

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 






, aipffiX o>m*W ^-t'A 






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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







NOBLE LIVES 

AND 

NOBLE DEEDS. 

FORTY LESSONS, 

BY VARIOUS WRITERS, 

ILLUSTRATING CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



EDITED BY 

EDWARD A. HORTON. 




UNITARIAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
25 Beacon Street. 
1893. 




Copyright, 1893, 
By Unitarian Sunday-School Society. 



Hnfocrsttg 3Pitss: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



INTRODUCTION. 



OTHING is more interesting to youth than biography. The aim 



L\ of this book is to present, in compact form, certain great truths 
through the attractive personal narrative. Whether in private or public 
life, religion rests at last on the individual. Christianity bases its appeal 
to the world on its love for each soul. Character is the chief fruit of 
worship and doctrine. 

These lessons are not simply ethical ; they include in their treatment 
religious impulse and spiritual beauty. They will be found useful to 
teachers, educators, and parents in many ways, supplementing here and 
there the work in hand of leading the young to admire illustrious names. 
This book will also distinctly aid, it is hoped, the young people them- 
selves to see how they can make their own lives noble. 

No doubt there will be difference of opinion as to the fitness of 
example and topic in many instances. That is inevitable. 

The editor wishes to make grateful acknowledgment here for the 
many valuable suggestions received by him from Kate Gannett Wells 
while preparing and publishing these lessons. 




CONTENTS. 



NUMBER. TOPIC. EXAMPLE. AUTHOR. PAGE. 

I. Self-Control. '. . Washington .... Edward A. Horton . 1 
Golden Text : He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city. 

IT. Concentration . . Mary Carpenter . . Kate Gannett Welh . 4 
Golden Text : This one thing I do. 

III. Honesty .... Abraham Lincoln . . Kate L. Brown . . 7 

Golden Text: Provide things honest. 

IV. Observation . . . Audubon Katherine Hagar . . 10 

Golden Text: Blessed are your eyes, for they see. 

V. Patience .... Darwin ...... Abbie M. Gannett . . 13 

Golden Text : In your patience possess ye your souls. 

VI. Perseverance . . Schliemann .... Edward A. Horton . 16 
Golden Text : Hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

VII. Promptness . . . Wellington and others Kate Gannett Wells . 19 
Golden Text : How long wilt thou sleep, 0 sluggard ! 

VIII. Frankness . . . . Luther W. H. Carruth . . 22 

Golden Text : Speaking the truth in love. 

IX. Justice Garrison George H. Young < . 25 

Golden Text : The memory of the just is blessed. 

X. Cheerfulness. . . Sydney Smith . . . Edward A. Horton . 28 
Golden Text : Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. 

XI. Duty Sir Walter Scott . . Anna Gulbranson . . 31 

Golden Text : "We have done that which it was our duty to do. 

XII. Simplicity .... Whittier Kate L. Brown . . 34 

Golden Text-. Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in sim- 
plicity and godly sincerity ... we have had our conversation in the world. 

XIII. Self-forgetfulness. Savonarola .... Edward A. Horton . 37 
Golden Text : I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath 
sent me. 



vi 



CONTENTS. 



NUMBER. TOPIC. EXAMPLE. AUTHOR. PAGE. 

XIV. Honor Bayard Grindall Reynolds . 40 

Golden Text: He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, 
righteousness, and honor. 

XV. Courtesy .... Emerson Edward A. Horton . 43 

Golden Text : Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love ; iu honor 
preferring one another. 

XVI. Affection St. Francis of Assisi Mrs. Bradley Gilman 4(3 

Golden Text : Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God. 

XVII. Spiritual-Mindedness. Channing .... Kate Gannett Wells . 49 
Golden Text : To be spiritually-rninded is life and peace. 

XVIII. Self-Eespect . . . John Bunyan . . . Edward A. Horton . 52 
Golden Text : Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of 
God dwelleth in you. 

XIX. Conscientiousness . Charles Sumner . . Lewis G. Wilson . . 55 

Golden Text : I put on righteousness and it clothed me ; my justice was as a robe 
and diadem. 

XX. Order John Wesley . . . Kate Gannett Wells . 58 

Golden Text : Let all things be done decently and in order. 

XXI. Missionary Spirit . David Livingstone . G. W. Cooke ... 61 

Golden Text : This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a 
witness unto all nations. 

XXII. Obedience . . 0 . William Penn . . . Joel IT. Metcalf . . 64 

Golden Text : Jesus, though he was a son, yet learned obedience by the things 
which he suffered ; and having been made perfect, he became unto all them 
that obey him the author of eternal salvation. 

XXIII. Open-Mindedness . Dean Stanley . . . Frederick B. Mott . 67 

Golden Text : Walk in the light. 

XXIV. Independence . . . John Knox .... Edward A. Horton . 70 

Golden Text : I will not fear what man shall do unto me. 

XXV. Temperance . . . Father Mathew , . Charles F. Dole . . 73 

Golden Text : If meat maketh my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the 
world standeth. 

XXVI. Ambition .... Havelock C. Jaynes ... 76 

Golden Text : Seek those things which are above. N 

XXVII. Love of Knowledge . Humboldt .... Edtvard A. Horton . 79 
Golden Text : I love them that love me: and those that seek me earlv shall find me. 



CONTENTS, vil 



Henri Kegnault . . S. A. Eliot .... 82 



NUMBER. TOPIC. 

XXVIII. Love of the 
Beautiful. 

Golden Text : He hath made everything beautiful in his time. 

XXIX. Enthusiasm . . Gordon. . . . . . Frederick B. Mott . . 85 

Golden Text : God shined in oar hearts. 

XXX. Humility . . . Baron Bunsen . . . George W. Cooke . . 88 
Golden Text : Be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility, for 
God giveth grace to the humble. 

XXXI. Courage . . . Elisha Kent Kane . Edward A. Horton . 91 
Golden Text : Wait on the Lord : Be of good courage. 

XXXII. Gratitude . . Theodore Parker . . William H. Fish, Jr. 91 
Golden Text : Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 

XXXIII. Purity .... Joan of Arc .... Thomas R. Slicer . . 97 

Golden Text : To the pure all things are pure. 

XXXIV. Faithfulness . . Mary L. Ware . . . Elizabeth P. Charming 100 

Golden Text : Well done, thou good and faithful servant. 

XXXV. Mercy .... Dorothea L. Dix . . Francis Tiffany . .103 

Golden Text : Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 

XXXVI. Love of Nature. Thoreau Edward A. Horton . 106 

Golden Text : 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works ! In wisdom hast thou 
made them all. 

XXXVII. Patriotism . . John Adams .... Mrs. Bernard Whitman 109 

Golden Text : O God, our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their 
days, in the times of old. 

XXXVIII. Sentiment . . Beethoven Edward A. Horton . 112 

Golden Text : Man shall not live by bread alone. 

XXXIX. Faith .... Joseph Priestley . . Kate Gannett Wells . 115 
Golden Text : Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. 

XL. Eeverence . . Longfellow .... Edward A. Horton . 118 
Golden Text : Serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. 



INDEX 



121 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

He that ruleth his spirit is better than he 
that taketh a city. — Pkov. xvi. 32. 




Noble Life : 

WASHINGTON. 


Topic : 

SELF-COHTROL. 







We turn to the life of Washington for 
numerous guiding lessons. He was a man 
of many sides. To a superficial observer 
he seems to be a cold and calm character, 
without passion or temper. This is a great 
mistake, — one which more recent studies of 
his life are correcting. It adds very much 
to our admiration of Washington to know 
that Self-Control was a trait which he was 
obliged to cultivate, and the need of which 
he early felt. His nature was impulsive, 
headstrong, and excitable ; by a steady pur- 
pose he ruled himself, and only now and 
then did the volcano burst forth. There is 
probably no example quite so striking in this 
respect as his ; because, while we can single 
out instances of self-control at particular 
crises and in passing forms, here is the rec- 
ord of a man schooling himself all the time, 
throughout life, to be just, considerate, and 
clear-minded. 

Washington had great power of wrath, 
inheriting the high, hasty temper of his 
mother. Tobias Lear, his intimate friend 
and private secretary, says that in the win- 
ter of 1791 an officer brought a letter telling 
of General St. Clair's disastrous defeat by 
the Indians. It must be delivered to the 
President himself. He left his family and 
guests at table, glanced over the contents, 
and when he rejoined them seemed calm as 
usual. But afterwards, when he and Lear 
were alone, he walked the room, silent a 
while, and then broke out in great agitation, 
" It is all over. St. Clair is defeated, routed ; 
the officers nearly all killed, the men by 
wholesale ; the disaster complete, too shock- 
ing to think of, and a surprise into the bar- 
gain !" He walked about, much agitated, 
and his wrath became terrible. " Yes," he 
burst forth, "here, on this very spot, I took 
leave of him. I wished him success and 
honor. ' You have your instructions,' I said, 



' from the Secretary of War. I had myself 
a strict eye to them, and will add but one 
word, Beware of a surprise 1 You know 
how the Indians fight ! ' He went off with 
this, as my last solemn warning, thrown into 
his ears ; and yet, to suffer that army to be 
cut to pieces, hacked, butchered, tomahawked, 
by a surprise, — the very thing I guarded him 
against ! O God ! O God ! he is worse than 
a murderer ! How can he answer for it to 
his country ? The blood of the slain is upon 
him ; the curse of widows and orphans ; the 
curse of Heaven ! " His emotions were aw- 
ful. After which he cooled a little, and sat 
down, and said : " This must not go beyond 
this room. General St. Clair shall have jus- 
tice. I looked through the despatches, saw 
the whole disaster, but not all the particulars. 
I will receive him without displeasure ; I 
will hear him without prejudice. He shall 
have full justice!" 

Here is another incident. In 1775, at 
Cambridge, the army was destitute of pow- 
der. Washington sent Colonel Glover to 
Marblehead for a supply of that article, 
which was said to be there. At night the 
colonel returned, found Washington in front 
his headquarters, pacing up and down. 
Glover saluted. The general, without re- 
turning his salute, asked, roughly: "Have 
you got the powder ? " " No, sir." Wash- 
ington broke out at first with terrible severity 
of speech, and then said : " Why did you 
come back, sir, without it?" " Sir, there is 
not a kernel of powder in Marblehead." 
Washington walked up and down a minute 
or two, in great agitation, and then said : 
" Colonel Glover, here is my hand, if you 
will take it and forgive me. The greatness 
of our danger made me forget what is due 
to you and to myself." 

He was naturally shy all through life ; 
but he trained this diffidence into obedient 



2 



SELF-CONTROL. 



form. He was envied and abused, but he 
maintained a dignified attitude and a telling 
silence. He was offered a monarch's power, 
but he put aside ambition of that kind, 
though an ambitious man. He was sur- 
rounded by rivals, but he always gave due 
credit to every one. Let us put all this into 
shape for our study and benefit. 

I. Some of the greatest characters in 
history illustrate this trait of Self-Control. 
We can mention only one or two. There 
is the Duke of Wellington, whose career 
was marked by a persistent watchfulness 
over his irritable and explosive nature. 
How well he conquered himself, let the 
story of his deeds tell. The field of his 
great victory, which was Napoleon's over- 
throw, could not have been won but for 
the power of subduing himself manifested 
before. Or turn to Saint Paul, in Biblical 
portraits. As he has intimated, quick, im- 
pulsive, fiery, yet ever controlling the impet- 
uous forces and making them serve the cause, 
Paul stands out as the great Apostle to the 
Gentiles. 

II. In ordinary life the application is 
the same. He who would lead must first 
command himself. The time of test is when 
everybody is excited or angry or dismayed ; 
then the well-balanced mind comes to the 
front. To say, " No " in the face of glowing 
temptation is a part of this power. 

III. There are distinct religious and 
moral bearings of this quality. The Chris- 
tian type of character embodies it in a high 
rank. It sets forth the standard of a manly, 
thoughtful spirit under healthful restraint. 
Life more abundantly, but life under con- 
trol. Anchorites and monks and hermits 
make wrong use of the term. They call 
self-control, self-extinction, and run away 
from the duties of the world and seek soli- 
tude. Even there they are pursued by 
dreams, diseases, and notions, which render 
them anything but self-controlled. A per- 
son who practises self-control is likely to 
be just, kind, helpful, pure, good, and tem- 



perate. A person who gives way to his 
feelings becomes prejudiced, cynical, irre- 
sponsible, passionate, and bad. 

IV. A great many rules have been given 
for securing and increasing this trait. A 
large number rest on mere policy, and are 
good only for the surface ; they do not go 
to the centre. Others are too radical, and 
tear up the roots, leaving one without energy 
or ambition. The aim should be to keep 
the native force unabated, but to give it 
wiser guidance. We must not extinguish 
feeling, — simply turn it to noble ends. We 
might enumerate helps as follows : — 

a. Practise the habit in the face of dif- 
ficulties. Goethe found that he was dizzy 
in high places ; he climbed and trained him- 
self to be cool and clear-headed at such alti- 
tudes. He could not write amid confusion ; 
by dint of practice he overcame that weak- 
ness. It is with this as with development of 
muscle or skill ; thinking it out is not enough 
— Practice 1 

b. If we are exceedingly tried in this 
respect, our recourse must often be to say- 
ings which cheer us on to renewed effort. 
A passage like the following ringing in 
memory is sure to check and aid at the right 
moment : " He that ruleth his spirit is better 
than he that taketh a city." 

c. A fair amount of self-examination is 
good. Self-knowledge is a preface to self- 
control. The wise commander knows the 
weak and strong points of his fort. Too 
much self -inspection leads to morbidness ; 
too little, conducts to careless, hasty action. 
The average American does not know him- 
self well enough ; he proceeds with a boast- 
ful confidence, and is always in the right, so 
he thinks. If we are conscious of a failing, 
we naturally strive against it. 

d. There are two chief aims which, if held 
in view, will surely strengthen our self-con- 
trol ; one is attention to conscience, the other 
is a spirit of good-will. The lawless nature, 
not intending to live according to right, is 
always breaking over proper restraints, — 



SELF-CONTROL. 



3 



is suspicious and quarrelsome. And he who 
has not the disposition to love his fellow- 
men, grows more and more petulant, dis- 
agreeable, and unfair. 

e. Never fail to make accurate distinc- 
tions, so that we shall not attempt the im- 
possible. Many grow discouraged because 
they expect too much. James Freeman 
Clarke says : " Good nature, good temper, 
and good humor are qualities often con- 
founded, but which it is desirable to dis- 
tinguish." Good nature is an inborn gift, 
— "natural sunshine." Good humor is a 
mood, found in any one when everything is 
favorable. Good temper is a result of dis- 
cipline, by which experience proves the 
work of good sense, will, and caution. 
There is little credit to be given to those 
who are by nature placid and easy; the 
honor is for those who maintain a constant 
struggle with defects of temperament. 



V. Noble lives which enforce this trait 
must be our rallying support. What others 
have done let us try to do. Several examples 
have been cited ; here is another, Faraday. 
Professor Tyndall says of this eminent scient- 
ist : " Underneath his sweetness and gentle- 
ness was the heat of a volcano. He was a 
man of excitable and fiery nature ; but 
through high self-discipline, he had con- 
verted the fire into a central glow and 
motive-power of life, instead of permitting 
it to waste itself in ifseless passion." We 
cite this case here at the close of our les- 
son to enforce the points already made : 
1. Self-Control is essential to happiness and 
usefulness. 2. It can be developed. 3. By 
it one lays a basis for character. 4. Credit 
is most due to those who are by nature fiery. 
5. Conscientiousness and good-will are at 
the roots. 



QUESTIONS. 



A. Can you tell any stories as to Washing- 
ton's strong temper ? Do you respect him 
more, or less, because of the facts you know ? 
Is there any American equal to him in fulness 
of character ? What other examples are men- 
tioned? Can you give a sketch of Welling- 
ton's life ? With regard to Saint Paul, might 
not his " thorn in the flesh " have been a 
fiery, impetuous spirit ? Could he have done 
the work in hand without enthusiasm and 
boldness ? 

B. What are the five points of advice given 
in the lesson ? If we are persistent in conquer- 
ing the small affairs, how will it be in the 
larger? Do you remember any proverbs or 
quotations bearing on this subject ? Is Self- 



Control truly understood a false or cowardly 
affair ? What is the difference between license 
and liberty ? Is it right or sensible to say, " I 
will do as I please "? 

C. Who was Faraday ? How do Washing- 
ton as a statesman, and Faraday as a scientist 
illustrate self-control ? Can you give instances 
among your acquaintances ? Are not some 
persons examples of this trait for wrong pur- 
poses ; for instance, the prize-fighter who ab- 
stains and trains for brutal ends ? Ought we 
not to practise this quality, then, for higher 
aims ? Does not the fact that men undergo 
hardships for rowing matches prove that self- 
control or self-discipline is possible ? What 
are the roots of this trait ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Show the need of this trait in our American 
life. 

Enforce the Christ type of self-controlled 
character from the religious point of 
view. 



Impress the importance of beginning early to 

rule one's self. 
Gather incidents from every-day life. 
Draw out the scholars on the five aids, by 

discussion. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 
This one thing I do. — Phil. iii. 13. 




Noble Life: 
MARY CARPENTER 


Topic : 
CONCENTRATION. 







Mary Carpenter. — When Miss Mary 
Carpenter, of England, was in tins country, 
the first question she asked of every worker 
was: "What method do you pursue?" If 
people gave her indefinite replies, she almost 
interrupted them, saying: " Send me a report 
of your work ; that can best tell me what I 
need to know." 

This was the index to her character. She 
accomplished her life-work through concen- 
tration. She gave the whole of herself to 
whatever she was doing. She had one great 
purpose from early girlhood, and to that she 
systematically bent all her energies. This 
purpose was the redemption of the neglected 
poor, especially of the children. 

Her Children. — She visited the boys and 
girls in the alleys ; she went into the courts 
to stand by them ; she opened a school for 
the most wretched ones, and she took them 
into her own home, " Red Lodge." Yet all 
this reached but a few out of thousands. 
Then she founded a Reformatory Institution 
in Bristol where she lived, and governed it 
by methods of love and justice. People said 
it could not succeed. But it did, because she 
gave herself wholly to it. Still she grieved 
over the knowledge that there were miserable 
children throughout England. So she began 
to write, and she kept on writing till she 
died. She visited members of Parliament 
and told them what she wanted. 

Her Schools. — She was called an enthu- 
siast. "No," she answered, "I am only a 
worker with a purpose. I have planted 
4 Ragged Schools ' in Bristol, but tbey must 
be everywhere." She showed men how they 
could make laws to benefit poor children. 
At last, after years of discouragement and 
defeat, of patience and energy, the English 
Government established a system of " Re- 
formatory and Industrial Schools." Thou- 
sands of men in the English navy and army 



and in workshops owe their success to her 
laws, — for they were always called her laws 
by every one but herself. Then when her 
vision of a happy future for children began 
to be realized, she thought of India and its 
child-widows. 

Her Indian Work. — So, when she was 
sixty years old, she set sail for India, and 
went there four times in ten years. On her 
last visit — she was seventy then — the Indian 
princes and the English rulers and the com- 
mon people vied with each other in the gifts 
and gratitude they gave her. The Queen 
receivd her on her return and thanked her. 

Her Loyalty. — Miss Carpenter was too 
loyal an Englishwoman not to be pleased with 
her Queen's regard ; and the loving corre- 
spondence of the children of Princess Alice 
in Hesse Darmstadt, whom she had visited, 
were more treasured by her than literary au- 
tographs. But she never lost her simplicity 
nor forgot her purpose. 

Her Visit to America. — How could she 
improve her schools, and how could she in- 
terest the American people in the cause of 
India, were the two burdens of inquiry she 
brought to this country. She never wasted 
a moment while she was visiting. She car- 
ried back reports and notes as others carry 
Arizona stones and Indian arrow-heads. 

Her Death. — She lived but a few years 
after her return to England, and died in 
1877, being seventy years old. When she 
was ill, the city children came daily to ask 
how she had slept, for they knew that with 
her death they should lose one who had saved 
them from misery and sin as she had long 
ago saved the grown-up men and women 
of the city who had become its respected 
citizens. Concentrated energy was the 
watchword of Mary Carpenter's life. 

Mrs. Chisholm. — Even more remarkable 
in early fixedness of purpose than Miss Car- 



CONCENTRATION. 



5 



penter was Mrs. Chisholm, who was born in 
1810. Her favorite pastime as a child was 
to make boats out of walnut-shells, into which 
she would put imaginary families, and get 
them all mixed up. When they had crossed 
her make-believe ocean, she would pick out 
the various relations and put them together 
to live happily ever after. She invented this 
plan because she had heard so much about 
missionaries and the separation of their fam- 
ilies. By and by she told her lover that she 
must help him wherever he went abroad, as 
she had a mission from Heaven to do so. 
He was not frightened at her confession, and 
promised to aid her. They soon went to 
Australia, to aid in settling the emigrants 
who went out there. She slept in the room 
with the girls at the emigrant barracks, for 
she hoped by knowing them well she could 
gain more influence over them. From time 
to time she took large parties of them — from 
one hundred to an hundred and fifty — into 
the interior to find them places. She ad- 
vanced much money to them for their trav- 
elling expenses, and in several years lost 
but twenty pounds, so strongly did the 
emigrants feel the single-heartedness of her 
purpose. 

Secrets of Work. — These two women 
never could have accomplished what they 
did if they had flitted from one thing to 
another as so many persons do. They had 
two secrets of work. One was a special life 
purpose, the other was to carry it out when- 
ever possible. 

Drifting and Getting. — Most boys and 
girls drift into action. Most people do not 
know exactly what they want ; or if they 
know, they have little idea of how to get it. 
This knowing and then getting is the secret 
of concentration. It is " keeping at" some- 
thing. It is doing whatever you are doing 
with all your might. A boy can be patient, 
but lazy ; thorough, but slow ; persevering, 
but stupid. If he has concentration, how- 
ever, he is patient and steady, thorough and 
quick, persevering and bright. 



Every-day Concentration. — It is good 
to know that great people have done great 
things through concentration ; but it is better 
still to know that concentration belongs to 
the every-day life of the every-day boy and 
girl. Only they must not be selfish about it. 
Tell them that they must do all the errands 
or housework first before they begin to study, 
and that when they study they do not ask 
other persons to stop talking. Understand 
the errand or work before it is begun. Don't 
think of anything else while doing it, and 
don't dream when learning a lesson. Do 
one thing at a time and do it quiek. Do not 
carry over worries from one day or one thing 
to another. 

Quickness. — When something has to be 
done, no matter what, give the whole atten- 
tion to it and then it is quickly done. It is 
amusing to hear children say they are atten- 
tive, when they are only half attentive, or 
that they have done something as quickly 
as they could, when their mother or teacher 
knows that, if they had given their whole 
attention to it, it could have been done in 
half the time. 

Excuses. — People who have concentra- 
tion never make excuses. They get more 
done than others, and have a better time 
doing it. Excuses are signs of shiftlessness. 
Excuses do not answer in play any better 
than in lessons or business. Who ever heard 
of excuses in fcotball-playing ? 

Who needs it ? — Do self-made men 
have more concentration than college-bred 
men? Does- business need it more than 
literature? Do all inventions depend upon 
it, or if some of them are the result of 
chance, how about their application to every- 
day life ? Lightning and electricity : What 
is their connection, and what has been 
achieved by the application of the latter ? 

Weeds and Berries. — Did you ever no- 
tice boys weeding, or girls picking berries ? 
You can soon tell who has concentration. 
Some go from spot to spot, and are always 
looking to see how much their companions 



0 



CONCENTRATION. 



have got. Others stay still in one place till 
all the weeds within reach are pulled up or 
all the berries picked. 

Finally, let me tell you of three instances 
of concentration in people, of two of whom 
you must have heard. 

General Armstrong. — Do you know 
about General Armstrong and Hampton In- 
stitute ? That stands as a living monument 
to his power of concentration. He had a 
great purpose : the education of the Negro 
and Indian race, and ever since the Civil 
War he has been accomplishing it. 

Pundita Ramabai. — Do you remember 
her, — a small, dark-eyed East-Indian widow, 
who came here three or four years ago to 
raise money that she might found a home for 
child-widows in her own land, and teach 
them to be self-supporting? Frail as she 
was, she went from church to church, talking 
and begging, till most of them formed " Ra- 
mabai Circles," and she went home with the 
money she needed. There she met with 
bitter opposition; but she is overcoming it 



all by never losing sight of her purpose, — . 
by gaining her points, one by one, through 
gentle firmness. 

Folding a Towel. — There was a little 
feeble-minded girl in a " Home." When she 
entered it she was fat and stupid and knew 
nothing. When she had learnt how to be 
cleanly, she was given a towel to fold once 
in half, ready to be ironed. It took her six 
months to learn how to fold it once. After 
each attempt, she was as tired as if she had 
been playing tennis. But she kept on giving 
all her small mind to it, and conquered. She 
learnt how to fold the towel twice in much 
less time, and now she can do a great many 
simple, useful things. If a feeble-minded 
child can accomplish results through con- 
centration, what can not strong-minded 
children do ! 

The whole secret of concentration lies in 
giving quick, steady attention to whatever 
one has to do ; but each boy and girl has to 
train himself or herself to possess it. 



QUESTIONS. 



Who was Mary Carpenter? Did she 

like method % What was her purpose ? What 
her secret of success % Who were her chil- 
dren 1 ? What were her schools and laws' 2 
Have we similar ones in this country % Why 
did she go to India % Who are child-widows 1 
Why did she care for the recognition of the 
Queen ? Tell me of Mrs. Chisholm. How does 
" make-believe " about good things in play 
help to create purpose ? How about dolls and 



playing house ? What are two secrets of work ? 
Which helps most, " drifting " or knowing how 
to get your purpose ? Can we all have great 
special purposes ? Is every- day life full of 
purpose ? What is needed besides attention 2 
Do you make excuses ? Why 1 Do you take 
care of your garden ? Where is Hampton 
Institute ? What does Ramabai do for child- 
widows ? How can children with little mind 
get concentration ? 



TO TE 

Dwell on the relation of this trait to clear 

thinking and strong doing. 
Add anything bearing on Mary Carpenter's 

life, and her brother's. 
Show how we waste time and language and 

force of character by lack of this habit. 



C HERS. 

Illustrate by the diamond drill for tunnels, 

and the burning-glass. 
Refer to Saint Paul, "this one thing I do," 

and the triumphs of the Christians in the 

Catacombs, as examples. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 
Provide things honest. — Romans xii. 17. 




Noble Life : 

Abraham Lincoln. 


Topic : 

HONESTY. 







Who is not familiar with the earnest, 
rough-hewn features of Abraham Lincoln, 
the writer of the Emancipation Proclama- 
tion, the President during our Civil War? 

He was large-hearted, shrewd, and wise, 
— a man quick of wit and prompt in action. 
Many stories are told of his kindness, his 
tender sympathy, his readiness to listen. 
We would call attention here to that rugged, 
uncompromising honesty, the very founda- 
tion of his life-structure. To be known as 
" Honest Abe " is an honor greater than any 
title may boast. 

He was born February 12, 1809, in the 
wilds of Hardin (now Larue) County, Ky. 
Years before, Daniel Boone had explored 
that region, and with him went the grand- 
father of our hero. The home was a rude 
log cabin, far away from church, school, post- 
office, and store. Later the family moved to 
Indiana, then to Illinois. In all these places 
Lincoln's school life may have covered a year. 

But it was a family bent on improvement. 
Every book that fell in their way was eagerly 
devoured, and its contents as eagerly dis- 
cussed. So while the boy worked with his 
hands on the farm, in the shop, or store, his 
mind was keeping pace with his bodily de- 
velopment. He taught himself book-keeping, 
surveying, arithmetic, and English grammar. 
It is said he walked eight miles to borrow 
Kirkham's Grammar. 

He split rails, managed a flat-boat, worked 
with tools in the fields, tended store. What- 
ever he did was careful, thorough work. 
In 1832 he was elected captain of a com- 
pany to resist the encroachment of the 
famous Black Hawk. Soon after he en- 
tered the Legislature, then was postmaster; 
finally he studied law. 

He grew in popularity, and was several 
times sent to the Legislature. In 1837 he 
removed to Springfield, 111., where he became 



famous in his law practice. In 1847 he en- 
tered Congress, serving two years. He be- 
came a famous speaker, and in the years 
following visited many States, delivering 
speeches on political matters. In February, 
1861, he became President of the United 
States. 

It was a perilous moment. The secession 
was an accomplished fact, and the air was 
full of treason. An attempt to assassinate 
Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore to 
Washington was discovered and prevented. 

The events of the following years are well 
known. The war desolated our country, the 
slaves were set free, Lincoln was re-elected, 
and the Rebellion was crushed. While at- 
tending a play at Ford's Theatre, Lincoln 
was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. 
Thus died the greatest, wisest, gentlest 
President of our country since Washington. 

Anecdotes of Lincoln's Honesty. — 
While tending store, Lincoln once sold to a 
woman goods to the amount of two dollars, 
six and a quarter cents. He discovered 
later that a mistake had been made, and that 
the store owed the customer the six and a 
quarter cents. He closed the store, and 
walked several miles that night to return 
the amount. 

At another time a woman bought half a 
pound of tea. Lincoln discovered the next 
morning that a four-ounce weight was on 
the scales. He at once weighed out the 
remainder, and walked some distance before 
breakfast to return it. 

He was once a postmaster in New Salem ; 
but the office was finally discontinued. Sev- 
eral years after the agent called at his law 
office, and presented a claim of about seven- 
teen dollars in the settlement of the New 
Salem affairs. Mr. Lincoln took out a little 
trunk, and produced the exact sum, wrapped 
in a linen ra«;. It had lain there untouched 



8 



HONESTY. 



through years of the greatest hardship and 
self-denial. As he said, "I never use any- 
one's money but my own." 

Side-Lights. — " Truth needs no color ; 
beauty no pencil." — Shakespeare. 

Honesty is the very foundation of our 
social life. If there were nothing sure and 
real to depend upon, there could be no safety 
for life or property. 

A man builds of stone that has a fair out- 
side but is full of inward flaws. Sooner or 
later his structure must give way. 

An architect makes a slight error of cal- 
culation. No one would notice it, but a 
great building falls and lives are lost. 

A merchant is deceitful at a trade, — mixes 
sand with his sugar. A milkman waters his 
milk. Sooner or later both are known as 
sharpers before the world. 

There must be honesty in life. We could 
not lie down to sleep at night, or take a train 
of cars in any peace of mind, if we did not 
have faith in the rectitude of our fellow- 
beings. 

How may I Cultivate Honesty ? — By 

having full confidence in the power of truth. 
By daring to do right. 

By accepting patiently any uncomfortable- 
ness or unpopularity that may arise from 
being a truth-loving soul. 

By being exact in my statements, avoiding 
the use of extravagant expressions. 

By giving exact return in service for 
money paid me in my relations with my 
employer. 

By insisting that work done by others 
under my superintendence shall be honest 
work. 

By refusing the gains of dishonest work. 

By avoiding, absolutely, all games of 
chance, — gambling, lotteries, — wherein a 
return for what is invested may be exorbi- 
tant for me and disastrous to others. 

By returning in full as to both quantity 
and quality what has been borrowed. 



By never allowing a false impression to 
prevail if I can prevent it. 

To be truly honest, my heart must be 
sincere toward God and full of truest kind- 
ness to all men. 

I must believe firmly in the final triumph 
of truth. 

I must guard my thoughts from evil and 
my lips from careless speech. 

" Dare to be true ; nothing can need a lie ; 
A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby." 

I. Guard against pure and simple " smart- 
ness." A vast amount of duplicity springs 
from this source, — the fondness for notoriety, 
the common desire to appear remarkably 
bright, or to carry a very self-reliant air. 
The evil is deep in our times. Better by far 
be plain, honest, substantial, than to go in 
stolen plumage that is sure to be plucked. 
Exaggeration of speech, a white-fib way of 
telling stories, a false impression by silence 
or by inuendo, — these and other customs 
are very dangerous. They are an undertow 
that carries one out and off his footing of 
honor. 

II. It is said that "honesty is the best 
policy." True ; but it is also the best basis 
and the best self-help, aside from considera- 
tions of policy. "It is the highest wisdom." 
The word "probity" stands for the full 
meaning of this trait. 

III. One of the most offensive beings in 
life is he who makes a show and boast of his 
honesty. It then becomes corrupt. " The 
more honesty a man has, the less he affects 
the air of a saint," says Lavater. This atti- 
tude of probity, or facing everything in an 
honest spirit, has three forms, — honesty of 
motive, honesty of speech, honesty of ac- 
tion. The three must exist, if we would 
have the best result. In such a case the 
modesty of the individual is equal to his 
great worth. 



HONESTY. 



9 



QUESTIONS. 



How did Lincoln's early life differ from that 
of a king, — say Louis XIV. ? 

What influence did the studious disposition 
of his parents have upon him ? 

What influence did the difficulty in getting 
books have upon him ? 

How, do you think, would his progress in 
self-instruction compare with the progress of 
the ordinary boy at school ? Why ? 

How did Lincoln feel about work ? What 
was his test ? 

In Lincoln's dealings with the women in the 
store, would it have been an act of culpable 
dishonesty if he had allowed the matter to 
pass ? 

How would it have been if he had waited 
until the parties again visited the store? 
What influence must his prompt obedience 



to principle have had on the world ? On him- 
self ? 

What did Jesus say in a similar case ? 

If you do not like or enjoy people and have 
no desire to see them in your home, is it ever 
honest to invite them to visit you? If you 
think it is, state a case. 

If you are not glad to see people, is it ever 
right to use the conventional phrases, " I am 
glad to see you," etc.? 

If some one presses you to give an opinion 
on a matter where you know you will offend 
by being frank, should you speak or remain 
silent ? 

If you disapprove of individuals, which 
is most honest: to show your feelings by 
your actions, or to treat them as if you liked 
them ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Cite additional stories as to Lincoln's char- 
acteristics. 

Dwell on the evil of insincerity and lying which 

goes with dishonesty. 
Show how terrible it is to weaken faith in 

each other. 



Strengthen the young people against the senti- 
ment : "Others do it;" or, "It is the way 
in life." 

Describe the three honesties : Honesty of 
tongue, honesty of action, honesty of 
motive. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Blessed are your eyes, for they see. 

Math. xiii. 16. 




Noble Life : 

AUDUBON. 


Topic : 
OBSERVATION. 







In 1828 a wonderful book, « The Birds of 
America," by John James Audubon, was 
issued. It is a good illustration of what has 
been accomplished by beginning in one's 
youth to use the powers of observation. 
Audubon loved and studied birds. Even in 
his infancy, lying under the orange-trees on 
his father's plantation in Louisiana, he lis- 
tened to the mocking-bird's song, watching 
and observing every motion as it flitted from 
bough to bough. When he was older, he 
began to sketch every bird that he saw ; and 
he showed so much talent that he was taken 
to France to be educated. There his boy- 
hood was as happy as his infancy had been 
joyous. 

During his boyhood he made many excur- 
sions into the country in search of objects of 
natural history, — birds' nests, birds' eggs, 
specimens of moss, and curious stones. He 
could use his fingers as well as his eyes ; and 
he had a room filled with specimens, not 
only of birds, but of fishes and lizards, which 
he had stuffed and preserved; festoons of 
birds' eggs, which he had carefully blown 
out and then strung upon a thread ; paint- 
ings and drawings, chiefly of birds, that he 
had made ; and willow baskets which he had 
plaited. 

Study. — But his father, the old sailor, 
returned home ; and while he admired his 
son's work, he was not satisfied, and he told 
him abruptly that he should take him the 
next day to Rochefort for severer study. 
They arrived at the official residence; and 
then the father gave him leave to examine for 
one day the ships of war and fortifications, 
and told him that after that he must study. 

And study he did. More than a year was 
devoted to mathematics; but whenever it 
was possible he rambled about the country, 
using his eyes and fingers, collecting more 
specimens, and sketching with such assiduity 



that when he left France, only seventeen 
years old, he had finished two hundred 
drawings of French birds. 

This brief sketch of Audubon's bovhood 
shows the predominant traits of his charac- 
ter, — his power of observation, the training 
of eye and hand, that made him in manhood 
"the most distinguished of American orni- 
thologists," with so much scientific ardor and 
perseverance that no expedition seemed dan- 
gerous or solitude inaccessible when he was 
engaged in his favorite study. 

Watching. — A story is told of his lying 
on his back in the woods with some moss for 
his pillow, and looking through a telescopic 
microscope day after day to watch a pair of 
little birds while they made their nest. 
Their peculiar gray plumage harmonized 
with the color of the bark of the tree, so that 
it was impossible to see the birds except by 
the most careful observation. After three 
weeks of such patient labor he felt that he 
had been amply rewarded for the toil and 
sacrifice by the results he had obtained. 

A visitor to the naturalist at his home, 
on the banks of the Hudson, near New 
York City, where he spent the last years 
of his life happily and peacefully, said of 
him : " The wonderful simplicity of the man 
was perhaps the most remarkable. His 
enthusiasm for facts made him unconscious 
of himself. To make him happy, you had 
only to give him a new fact in natural his- 
tory or introduce him to a rare bird. His 
self-forgetfulness was very impressive. I felt 
that I had found a man who asked homage 
for God and Nature, and not for himself." 

Audubon's strength of purpose and un- 
wearied energy, combined with his pure 
enthusiasm, made him successful in his work 
as a naturalist ; but it was all dependent on 
the habit he had from his boyhood, — this 
habit of close and careful observation ; and 



OBSERVATION. 



11 



he not only had this habit of using his eyes, 
but he looked at and studied things worth 
seeing, worth remembering. 

Boys. — Bright boys in the city, as well 
as in the country, unconsciously cultivate 
this habit of observation. A lady said to her 
friend, when they were puzzled over the 
locality of a building which they wished to 
visit, " Ask the first boy we meet to tell us 
the shortest route ; they always know every- 
thing of that kind. I always go to a bright 
boy for help and information." 

The study of the great sciences of obser- 
vation — astronomy, geology, and the natural 
history of animals and plants — cultivates 
this faculty ; and this serious study prevents 
the observation of trifles to no purpose. 

Some people have quick eyes and vacant 
minds. For instance, when they return from 
church they can remember the peculiarities 
of a clergyman's personal appearance, but his 
sermon has made no impression on them. 

A brilliant society lady said, ' ' I hate 
people that pick." She was annoyed be- 
cause some of her acquaintances had a habit 
of interrupting her in the full tide of her 
conversation by removing a thread or bit of 
lint from her dress, the wandering of their 
eyes and mind showing their lack of interest 
in what she was saying. 

Second Nature. — This habit of obser- 
vation we should cultivate till it becomes 
second nature. The skilful engineer, the 
wise physician, the painstaking artist, the 
scientific naturalist, have so trained their 
eyes and minds that nothing of importance 
to their work escapes them. Whatever the 
occupation, we know that the man or woman 
who has not the habit of careful and steady 
observance of external things, goes through 
life crippled and hampered. The habit is 
easily formed in youth ; any thorough scien- 
tific study obliges us not only to read of 
what others have seen, but to see with our 
own eyes whatever we wish to know thor- 
oughly. Collections similar to those made 
by Audubon in his boyhood help students to 



form this habit of observing the wonderful de- 
tail of Nature around us ; every flower, every 
stone is evidence of the knowledge obtained 
by the boy or girl who has arranged them. 

"Princey." — A governess who went to 
Europe with a family of American children 
told me that when she was in Berlin with 
them, they took a walk one morning accom- 
panied by a young prince, Waldemar, — a 
boy about ten years old. When they re- 
turned they found that " Princey," as they 
called him, had his pockets filled — I use the 
governess's words — with "beetles and queer 
stones" for his collection; but not one of 
the American party had observed that he 
had picked up these things while they were 
walking in the Thiergarten together. 

Happiness. — Audubon's power of obser- 
vation gave him great happiness, from the 
time he rambled as a boy in the country in 
search of treasures of natural history till, in 
his old age, he rose with the sun and went 
straightway to the woods near his home, 
enjoying still the beauties and wonders of 
Nature. 

Serene and unclouded was his faith ; he 
writes in 1846, when he was seventy-six 
years old, that " surrounded by my dear 
family, enjoying the affection of numerous 
friends, I lift my grateful eyes toward the 
Supreme Being and feel that I am happy." 
He was born in Louisiana in 1780 and died 
in 1851. 

I. Let us note a few points. Indians are 
remarkable in the practice of observation, 
showing how acute the faculty can be made. 
More civilized people have larger mental 
ways, but those who live near to Nature are 
always very accurate in their seeing. Tho- 
reau was a noted man living in Concord, 
Mass., friend of Emerson. He tried to de- 
velop the lost art of the natives, adding to 
it modern knowledge ; he lived alone in the 
woods a great deal. 

II. By this habit we can always make 
sure of having a resource of pleasure, and 
are never lonely. What every one needs in 



12 



OBSERVATION. 



growing old is to keep up interest ; and it 
is noticeable that those who have practised 
observation and enlarged the perceptive 
powers are generally young in feelings. 
They can travel or remain at home, and 
enjoy life. They love sunsets, beautiful 
mornings, objects of sea or shore, and in 
them all find food for thought. 

III. Do not fail to employ both forms of 



observation, — that toward the infinitely 
small and the infinitely large. The micro- 
scope represents one, the telescope the other. 
We ought to be acquainted with the ordinary 
and the extraordinary. Pebbles teach truth 
and reveal God as well as planets; and we 
must not forget how Jesus made effective 
use of mustard-seeds, lilies, and yeast in 
setting forth spiritual truths. 



QUESTIONS. 



What is the name of the book which made 
Audubon famous ? Can you give some facts 
in his life 1 Are there not many persons who 
see with their eyes but not with their minds ? 
How do you understand the saying, that we 
see what we want to see ? If a man is an 
artist will he not behold pictures in Nature? 
What is meant by " the school of life ? " Would 
you say that sharp observation made the great 
general ? Is science a help to religion, or a 
hurt ? On what trait or power does the scien- 
tist depend? Has it occurred to you that 



Christianity encourages observation? If we 
love our fellow men, will we not look carefully 
and kindly into their needs ? If we love our 
Heavenly Father, will we not study his works 
and "read his thoughts after him"? Does 
the habit of observation make one more just 
and accurate ? Does it not lead us to prize 
small objects and little deeds ? Did not Jesus 
mean this when he said, " Consider (or observe 
carefully) how the lilies of the field grow " ? 
What must we guard against if we would be 
good observers of life ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Have the class give a sketch of Audubon's life. 

Consider together, by questioning and conver- 
sation, what the habits of the scholars are 
as to observation. 

Point out the great array of truths taught by 
science. 



Apply the topic to philanthropy and judgment 
and planning of any kind. 

Illustrate the subject by the spirit and teach- 
ing of reformers and leaders who looked 
searchingly into world problems. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

In your patience possess ye your souls. 

Luke xxi. 19. 




Noble Life: 
DARWIN. 


Topic : 
PATIENCE. 







The microscope shows plant life made up 
of tiny cells. They increase in number until 
maturity. The early cells sub-divide, mak- 
ing many new ones. Here are two facts of 
growth : the production of many cells, their 
mutual dependence. 

It illustrates the formation of character. 
Character is made up of impulses, thoughts, 
deeds, which at one period go to fashion 
those of another period. If wheat cells are 
first formed, they go on forming, not those 
of oats or roses ; and if a boy starts with 
right impulses, thoughts, deeds, we may 
count upon his becoming a man of character. 

Of the traits making character, can we 
start with one as the foundation cell ? Per- 
haps not, arbitrarily. Virtues are pecu- 
liar; given one, others start forth. Truth 
leads to honor ; self-control begets courage. 
Virtues insensibly glide into each other. 
This is encouraging. Whoever has several 
faults to overcome knows that the steady 
cultivation of one good trait makes others 
easier. 

Suppose we start with patience; it seems 
a quiet, unobtrusive habit. But some one 
has called genius "an infinite capacity for 
taking pains; " that is, having an unbounded 
stock of patience. Longfellow says : — 

" The heights by great men reached and kept 
"Were not attained by sudden flight ; 
But they, while their companions slept, 
"Were upward toiling in the night." 

I. Patience underlies the attainment of 
many virtues. To be brave, one must learn 
by degrees to face dangers ; to be unselfish, 
each act, thought, even longing, must be 
patiently guarded ; to be grateful, one must 
not weary in contemplating debts owed 
others. Goethe, to quicken his sense of 
gratitude, at stated times looked at his gifts, 
recalling the circumstances when given. 
These acts indicate patience. 



II. In practical affairs the trait is indis- 
pensable. Years of patient apprenticeship 
make a man a good mechanic. It takes 
longer to form the artisan. The trained 
intellect requires a longer period still. 

III. Each success points to patience as 
its great aid. Considering a work of genius, 
we should not forget the little habit — the 
tiny cell, as it were — through whose con- 
stant use it became possible. For patience 
consists in small, repeated acts done day by 
day, year by year, despite every hindrance 
and discouragement. 

IV. Its value is set forth in aphorisms. 
"Patience and perseverance will remove 
mountains." "With time and patience the 
mulberry leaf becomes silk." Shakespeare 
says, — 

" See first that the design is right and just; 
That ascertained, pursue it resolutely." 

In the famous curse in "Faust," made 
under the influence of Mephistopheles, pa- 
tience is the last thing cursed. The spirit of 
evil and denial knew the power he had to 
cope with in it. It is a builder-up he would 
forever destroy. 

V. It is a Christian virtue. Jesus' life 
was one of heroic bearing. The heathen 
virtues were justice, prudence, temperance, 
and fortitude. It was natural that through 
Jesus' example the Christian world should 
give patience a foremost place. He that 
endureth to the end shall be saved. Im- 
patience wastes. In a strictly religious sense 
this virtue becomes endurance. 

VI. It softens the ills of life ; in sickness 
it is like medicine ; it restrains in danger. 

VII. From an aesthetic view the habit is 
desirable. Mild, patient manners are pleas- 
ing; a soft, patient answer turneth away 
wrath; rash, hasty, deeds shock propriety. 
Lord Chesterfield says, " A gentleman is 



14 



PATIENCE. 



never in a hurry." Then he is never im- 
patient; that shows hurry of mind. 

VIII. The habit is more easily formed by 
some than by others. But where the struggle 
is great the victory is great. The impatient 
can put off a fault capable of great harm, 
for what will ennoble themselves and make 
others happier. 

It reveals two phases : sometimes it is 
active, sometimes passive. It is coupled 
with an indomitable energy and joined to 
submission. It is to the passively patient 
Milton refers : — 

" They also serve who only stand and wait." 

An intellectual force, a moral beauty. 

We consider a life showing both phases. 
No modern man had the trait more fully 
developed than Charles Darwin. A wonder- 
ful life, all unite in saying. Wonderful the 
gifts with which it enriched the world. Men 
advance by better understanding of their 
origin and history. Before Darwin, the be- 
lief was that man was created perfect, and 
evil came from disobedience. He showed 
man as the last link in a long chain of 
beings ; and we see how ignorance and bad 
inheritances help produce sin and suffering. 
Methods for improvement become wiser. 
Education is cure for evils. Nature's pa- 
tient modes are copied in our systems of 
reforms. This is a great step in bringing 
the final "peace on earth." Darwin's pa- 
tient research, often in suffering, bore rich 
harvests. One man's steady persistence 
meant future happiness for many. 

At twenty-two he was appointed naturalist 
on board the ship " Beagle," for a five years' 
cruise. His record is given in " A Natural- 
ist's Voyage Around the World." No boy 
or girl should fail to find delight in that 
book. It is rich in information on almost 
every natural phenomenon. Darwin began 
his researches by examining the dust blown 
on deck, and noting the number and char- 
acter of the germs contained. This pains- 
taking investigation continued. His care 



in observing and thinking out causes was 
indefatigable. 

The " Beagle " visited the Cape Verde 
Islands, countries of South America, the 
islands of the Pacific, and Australia. Dar- 
win here laid the foundation for his great 
powers of application. In after life he would 
watch for hours the movements of vine- 
tendrils, or study for years the habits of 
earth-worms in his flower-pots. 

These five years were followed by five of 
careful classification and study of the objects 
collected. In this time he conceived the 
idea of natural selection. This method re- 
sulted in the hypothesis of the survival of 
the fittest as cause of the production of 
species. He must present this in a form 
worthy of acceptance; he must refute the 
countless objections of scientific workers in 
every field. They would be eager to main- 
tain the theory of creation. He saw that 
this meant time and tireless devotion. He 
had every incentive to a life of leisure. 
He had inherited wealth ; his exposures on 
the voyage left him with impaired health. 
We cannot believe he chose without know- 
ing the sacrifice. 

He was over fifty when he issued his great 
work, " The Origin of Species," which pro- 
duced such a revolution in men's thoughts. 
No work testifies more to a man's steadiness 
of purpose, unflagging patience, unflinching 
resolution. 

His son testifies to his beauty of character 
in the household. The patient worker in- 
creased in calmness and benignity. Finally, 
routine work became master. With quaint 
humor Darwin writes, "There is nothing 
now to do but ' keep on.' " He was no 
slave. His children hailed with delight the 
prospect of a walk with their father on one 
of his favorite ways. 

This intellectual patience was eclipsed by 
his moral patience. 

It was discovered that his great thoughts 
had been shared by another, Alfred Russell 
Wallace. Darwin made no effort for prece- 



PATIENCE. 



15 



dence ; he would divide honors with Wallace. 
No one except himself realized the disap- 
pointment. The mutual deference and un- 
selfishness of these two cannot be too much 
admired. Darwin was led to withdraw his 
scruples; his book was first published. 

Then came the war of opposing ideas. 
Never did a book receive harsher criticism. 
It was abused and misjudged. With the 
lofty patience that had become the ruling 
force of his life, he waited ; no bitter word 
escaped him. He hoped after the hottest 
part of the strife men would return to reason 
and judge the book as it deserved. He lived 
to be rewarded for his forbearance. His 
book became the authority in biology; his 
assailants became his friends. 

Let us bear in mind the two facts disclosed 
by this life, — the momentous work patience 
does, its aid in shaping moral character. 



How shall we gain it ? Start with the first 
little act as the formatory cell ; see that simi- 
lar actions follow ; be bold against obstacles ; 
resolve to have it. With your lessons, music, 
painting, even so-called drudgery, if you do 
that, say, Patience shall win. Be sustained 
by the thought that it will result in — 

First, the perfection of your work. 

Second, the ennoblement of your character. 

Lastly, fix the following points in mind : 
1. Patience is fundamental to good and last- 
ing work. 2. All can cultivate it. 3. It is 
of especial credit to those naturally impa- 
tient. 4. It has an aesthetic value. 5. It 
softens life's hardships. 6. In its intellectual 
and its moral phases it helps to complete 
character. 7. The will not to be defeated 
by any obstacle is the prime need. 



QUESTIONS. 



Have you seen a leaf under the microscope ? 
Why does the lesson say that cells suggest 
virtues ? Of what help is it that good traits 
merge into each other ? What is patience ? 
And is it a good habit to start with ? Mention 
a man of genius, and how he exercised it. 
Name some work of art requiring it. 

Can you show how impatience destroys? In 
what way was Jesus patient 1 ? How does the 
habit help in illness and trouble ? Do you 
like hurry in manner and speech 1 ? Can you 
show why those naturally impatient ought to 
cultivate patience for the sake of others ? 



What have you read about Darwin 1 Why 
does knowledge of our past help us 7 Have 
you heard of Josiah Wedgwood 1 And had he 
qualities like Darwin'? Have you read any 
books of travel where stories were exagger- 
ated ? Did Darwin do so ? How long was he 
writing " The Origin of Species " ? Had he a 
moral right to supersede Wallace ? Why did 
his children reverence him ? What two great 
results did his life show ? What five points 
does our lesson enforce 1 ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Speak of the impatience prevailing in modern 

life, and the need to curb it. 
Ask the pupils to give examples of their own 

experience. 

Discuss this question: Which is more likely 
to lead to success, a great gift with small 
amount of patience, or a small gift with 
great amount of patience? 



Dwell particularly upon the moral need of tak- 
ing pains with the "common," "trifling" 
things of life. 

Show that both intellectual and moral patience, 
striven for because they are right, are 
religious. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Hopeth all tilings, endureth all things. 

1 Cor. xiii. 7. 




Noble Life : 

SCHLIEMANN. 


Topic : 
PERSEVERANCE. 







Heinrich Schliemann was born at Kal- 
korst, Mecklenburg- Sch werin, in 1822. He 
was the son of a poor Lutheran clergyman, 
and was intended for a university career. 
But this plan could not be carried out. His 
mother died when he was nine years old. 
As the family numbered seven children, 
their education became a difficult matter, 
and Heinrich was sent to his uncle, with 
whom he studied a year. When he was 
fourteen, he was apprenticed to a small 
grocer, where his duties consisted of selling 
across the counter herrings, butter, milk, 
salt, coffee, sugar, oil, tallow-candles, etc., 
sweeping the shop, and doing many other 
distasteful duties. He had very little time 
for the cultivation of his mind. Dr. Schlie- 
mann remembers a characteristic little event 
that occurred at this time. 

Learning Greek. — One evening there 
came to the shop a miller's man who had 
been born in better circumstances and edu- 
cated at a gymnasium, but who had been 
unfortunate and come down in the world ; 
yet he had not forgotten his Homer. " That 
evening," says Dr, Schliemann, "he recited 
to us about a hundred lines of the poet, ob- 
serving the rhythmic cadence of the verses. 
Although I did not understand a syllable, 
the melodious sound of the words made a 
deep impression upon me, and I wept bitter 
tears over my unhappy fate. Three times 
over did I get him to repeat to me those 
divine verses, rewarding his trouble with the 
few pence that made up my whole wealth 
From that moment I never ceased to pray 
to God that by his grace I might yet have 
the happiness of learning Greek." 

Persistent. — After five years in this 
grocery-store, he overstrained himself and 
had to give up his work. In his delicate 
condition it was difficult to find another 
place. In despair, he bound himself as a 



cabin boy, sold his only coat to buy a blanket 
for the voyage, and set sail for Venezuela. 
The ship was wrecked on the Dutch coast. 
After drifting for nine hours in a little boat 
he was picked up and taken to Holland. 
Here he decided to remain, and his first 
year was spent as an office-boy in a ware- 
house. In this capacity he had to run 
errands and carry letters to and from the 
post. But he took advantage of the perfect 
mental leisure to carry on his education. 
In his own words : " I never went on my 
errands, even in the rain, without having my 
book in my hand and learning something by 
heart. I never waited at the post-office 
without reading or repeating a passage in 
my mind." 

Learning Russian. — He was desirous of 
learning Russian, and as no teacher of this 
language was to be found in the town, he 
learned by heart the Russian translation of 
Telemachus. He hired, for four francs a 
week, a poor Jew to whom he repeated this 
poem evening after evening. The Jew 
could endure it; but Dr. Schliemann's fellow 
lodgers, who had to hear everything through 
the thin board partitions, did not feel them- 
selves equally bound to endurance; so the 
enthusiastic youth had to change his lodgings 
twice during this educational period. 

Better Times. — His employers now sent 
him to St. Petersburg as their agent. He 
became an American citizen in California 
in 1850. Matters prospered with him in a 
business way, so that in 1858 Dr. Schliemann 
believed he had made a sufficient fortune, 
and could now devote himself to his favorite 
study of archaeology This meant the learn- 
ing of some more languages, permission to 
be obtained from the Turkish Government, 
and very many preliminary difficulties which 
had to be overcome before the excavations 
could be made which were in bis plans. The 



PERSEVERANCE. 



17 



beginnings of this work resulted in great 
disappointment. What was disclosed in dig- 
ging was not satisfactory. Then the work 
was carried on at bad times, when the weather 
was bitter cold ; but his enthusiasm kept him 
warm. 

His Discoveries. — The story of Dr. 
Schliemann's career from this time on is full 
of the same trait which has marked his pre- 
vious efforts. The excavations at Mycenae 
and Troy, and at the various spots in Greece, 
were conducted under the pressure of severe 
obstacles, and nothing but an undaunted per- 
sistence carried him through. What he ac- 
complished is not for us to state here in 
detail, but the spade that he used brought to 
light some of the richest revelations from a 
buried past. Many theories which he put 
out and found ridiculed were proven true; 
and through the thick and thin of all the 
perplexities and opposition which he met, 
this great quality of his character served to 
make him victor. 

At Athens. — Dr. Schliemann had said 
that he would only marry a Greek woman 
who knew her Homer by heart, and he 
carried out his intention, his wife being a 
finely educated Greek lady. He built a fine 
palace at Athens, where he made his per- 
manent residence. The lower floor is a 
museum for his findings in the buried cities. 

Household. — One of his curious ideas 
was to give to each of his household, and to 
even the transient guests, Homeric names. 
His children were called Andromache and 
Agamemnon. 

In the latter part of his life he was afflicted 
with deafness ; and it was because of a cold 
contracted after a surgical operation upon 
his ears that his death occurred, at Naples, 
Dec. 26, 1890, and his valuable life so sud- 
denly closed. 

I. The talent of perseverance has been 
the key to success in many famous cases. 
Newton, when asked by what means he had 
worked out his extraordinary discoveries, 
replied, " By always thinking toward them." 



Rawlinson, the great student in ancient; 
ruins and history, stands beside Schliemann 
in illustration of the value of persistent 
effort. 

II. Perseverance depends on three things, 
— purpose, will, enthusiasm. He who has a 
purpose is always concentrating his forces ; 
by the will, constantly educated, the hope 
and plan are saved from evaporating into 
dreams, and a little gain is all the time being 
added; enthusiasm keeps the interest up, 
and makes the obstacles seem small. Young 
people often call perseverance plodding, and 
look with impatience on careful, steady efforts 
of any kind. It is plodding in a certain 
sense, but by it the mountain is scaled; 
whereas the impetuous nature soon tires, or 
is injured, and the climb is over, half-finished. 
The founders of New England did not be- 
lieve in "chances." They did believe in 
work. ' ' Nothing from nothing ' ' was their 
motto. The young man who thinks to " get 
on " by mere smartness and by idling wits 
meets failure at last. 

III. But there is a higher outlook. Life 
is in a sense a battle ; certainly there is an 
unending struggle within ourselves to make 
the better part rule the worse. Saint Paul's 
life is full of this fact. He speaks of it, and 
sums it all up by saying, I forget very much 
of failure and disgrace in the past, and reach 
out to the nobler things before. In other 
words, he persevered. It is the only line to 
follow, if we are anxious to improve. An 
Eastern saying has it : " It is not the falling 
down that concerns me, but whether you rise 
and go forward a wiser man." James Russell 
Lowell expresses it: "Not failure, but low 
aim, is crime." Translating our topic into 
Scriptural language, we may say that the 
parables of the mustard seed and of the 
leaven are illustrations of perseverance. 

IV. How can we increase this trait of 
character ? 

a. By believing in God. By having faith 
that a Supreme Power rules the world, and 
aids through laws of life efforts for noble 



18 



PERSEVERANCE. 



living and doing. The Father Spirit is over 
all and through all. 

b. By looking at that Example whose 
life is the light of this world of struggling 
mankind. His spirit is one of conquering 
fidelity. 

c. By doing the duty nearest us. Out of 
this grows a habit which almost takes care 
of itself. We cease to worry, to dream, to 
complain ; we do the best we can day 
by day. 

V. One great need of our times is perse- 



verance. We do not stand by our plans 
faithfully. Fashion or criticism or tempo- 
rary weariness or fickleness of taste leads us 
off, and we have to begin our work all over. 
Look at the history of every noted inven- 
tion; read the lives of musicians who were 
born with genius, but wrought out triumph 
by perseverance ; study the Apostolic times 
of the beginnings of Christianity ; examine 
the facts of evolution. On all sides the proof 
abounds that without perseverance nothing 
valuable can be accomplished. 



QUESTIONS. 



A. What can you tell of the life of Dr. 
Schliemann? In what ways did he specially 
illustrate the trait of perseverance? How 
valuable do you think his work was ? Where 
did he carry on his labors'? Do you recall 
any examples of a similar kind not mentioned 
in the lesson? Will you tell some story of 
your own experience which illustrates this 
trait ? 

B. What are the three ways of cultivating 
this quality, or habit ? Do you think of any 
other helps ? Do you believe that we can do 



anything important except by patient practice ? 
How does the orator, the singer, the preacher, 
or the writer acquire skill and power? 

C. Is it not true, too, that we must perse- 
vere in training ourselves ? What does Saint 
Paul say of himself ? What does Christianity 
demand, if it is not a character made complete 
by perseverance in the right? Ought we not 
to think more highly of those who, though 
often sinning, persevere in trying to do better, 
than of those who are easily and selfishly good? 
What is the line from Lowell ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Refer to the lives of Fawcett and Prescott the 
historian, who conquered blindness and did 
such great work. 

Show how genius goes to wreck without this 
safeguard. 

Illustrate the power of habits, and especially 
the economy of character forces which good 
habits bring about. 



Do not fail to enforce the religious side by 
ample reference to Proverbs and the life of 
Paul 

Connect hope and progress with this trait by- 
reference to every-day incidents. 









No t>le Lije : 

TWaI Unfit ati TooVcati 

yy eiiiiigLon, jacKson 

and others. 


GOLDEN TEXT. 

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard! 

Pkov. vi. 9. 


Topic : 
PROMPTNESS. 







Napoleon Bonaparte. — The life of a 
general, a captain, a soldier, demands prompt- 
ness. Not only does bis own life, but that 
of thousands, depend upon it. Napoleon 
changed the art of war quite as much by bis 
promptness as by his concentration of bis 
men in large masses. By bis exceeding 
rapidity of movement be was long able to 
protect France against the combined powers 
of Europe. He was always quick to seize 
the advantages of an emergency. Though 
he can never be considered as the type of a 
noble man, he was an extraordinarily great 
man. Boys who like to read of battles and 
trace the manoeuvres of a campaign will find 
that his military renown was largely due to 
Ms promptness. 

Duke of Wellington. — The duke was 
a far grander man than Bonaparte. He 
cared to do his duty more than to receive 
any personal honor. He is a superb example 
of the promptness necessary for a com- 
mander. He considered time as a most 
valuable possession, which one was bound 
to occupy with activity. His patience and 
kindness were as great as his promptitude. 

Henry IV. — This king of France was 
another leader of remarkable promptness. 
His people said of him that he wore out very 
little broadcloth, but a great deal of boot 
leather, for he was always going from one 
place to another. In speaking of the Due de 
Mayenne, Henry called him a great captain, 
but added, " I always have five hours the start 
of him." Getting ahead of time is as good 
a rule for boys and girls as for generals. 

Sheridan. — In our own country we have 
had two generals who were especially noted 
for their despatch. Do you know the story 
of "Sheridan's Ride" in the Shenandoah 
Valley, — how his men, beaten, were fleeing 
before the Southerners, when he suddenly 
appeared, promptly decided to head them 



right back again, and by the inspiration of 
his single presence turned them round to face 
their enemies, whom they then conquered? 

Thomas J. Jackson. — He won his nick- 
name of " Stonewall " at the first battle of 
Bull Run, because he stood with his troops in 
resistance to the enemy like a stone wall. 
He was honored for his noble character by 
both North and South. No one obtained 
more personal devotion from his men than 
did he. He allowed himself no ease which 
be did not grant to them. One day he was 
found sitting on a log and eating when his 
soldiers were almost without food ; but as he 
opened his hand to show them what he had, 
they saw it was only acorns. He learned 
piomptness and obedience at West Point; 
for a cadet has to obey trifling commands 
instantly. He fought for the South in the 
Civil War, because he believed in the jus- 
tice of its cause. He was an intensely reli- 
gious man, and did everything for the glory 
of God — as he understood it. In spite of 
his soldier's career, he reverenced the Sab- 
bath, and would never allow his men to fight 
on the day, when quiet and devotion must 
reign through his camp. It was said he 
would not even kiss his wife on Sunday. 
He was always appearing between armies, 
taking quick advantage of surprises, going 
from one point to another with extraordinary 
celerity of movement, deciding and acting 
with the utmost promptitude. Like many 
another brave soldier, the habit of prompt- 
ness, which enabled him to be foremost even 
in times of danger, resulted in his death. 
He exposed himself to win the victory for 
what he thought was the right. His men, by 
one of his military surprises, broke through 
the Northern ranks ; and when he went out 
to reconnoitre beyond his skirmishers, he 
was shot as he returned by his own soldiers, 
who took him for one of the enemy. 



20 



PROMPTNESS. 



Sailors. — They must be even more 
prompt than soldiers, for in danger at sea 
not an instant can be lost. Not only must 
a sailor be prompt in action against storm, 
but he must be prompt with his sails in 
squally weather ; he must be prompt with his 
helm when approaching land, and prompt 
against collision. Among sea heroes, Lord 
Nelson is conspicuous for his prompt and 
courageous deeds. He had many faults ; 
but England felt safe while he watched over 
her, for he never allowed himself to be sur- 
prised by misfortune, but was always before- 
hand. There is never any need, however, 
of a sailor to wait for great opportunities to 
show his promptness ; for he cannot go out 
in a fishing-smack or a pleasure sail-boat or 
a merchant vessel, or be engaged on a man- 
of-war, without constant demand made upon 
him for prompt decision. 

Engineers. — The engineer of a railroad 
train or a machine shop, the motor-man of an 
electric car, must be prompt at any moment. 
The world is full of noble stories of noble 
men, who by prompt reversal of the action 
of an engine have saved the lives of others 
and given up their own. 

Business. — All business life demands 
promptness, from the boy who sweeps out 
the store to the man who is at the head of 
gigantic operations. The alternate success 
of the "bulls" and "bears" in the stock 
exchange depends on prompt action. 

Accidents. — " Emergency " is a word 
which lately has come into frequent use in 
regard to accidents. Police and firemen in 
many cities are obliged to attend Emergency 
Lectures about " first aid," or what to do in 
emergencies ; for accidents happen suddenly. 
Even in some schools the older boys and 
girls are shown how to stop the bleeding 
from a vein and artery, how to improvise 
splints, and how to restore consciousness. 
It chanced that two young girls who had 
heard these talks were boarding in a strange 
city, when one of them was seized with a 
hemorrhage. The other, by her prompt 



action founded on knowledge, knew what to 
do, and saved her lite. A little boy tore his 
leg badly in climbing ; but he knew how to 
stop the bleeding by tearing up some of his 
clothing, making strips of it with which to 
bandage himself; and was not frightened, 
though when he got home he fainted. His 
promptness saved his own life. 

Society. — Promptness is very needful 
in social affairs ; and girls ought to remem- 
ber this, if they wish to be ladies. An invi- 
tation should be answered at once. Never 
be late at a dinner or a party. If any atten- 
tion is to be paid to a friend or stranger, do 
it at once. Don't wait till she has gone, and 
then say you were just going to do it. These 
little social matters, besides making it easier 
to live in society, have a real moral value. 

Kindness. — Don't put off being kind to 
people, whether it is finding the spectacles 
of an old lady who is always losing them, or 
amusing the baby. The boys and girls, the 
men and women, who are the most loved are 
those who never lose an opportunity for in- 
stant kindness. Delay in kindness is fatal 
to friendship. Though one may never have 
a great occasion in which to prove his 
promptness, the little chances for proof of 
it belong to every-day life. 

Indecision. — There is a kind of stam- 
mering in action which hurts the character 
far more than stammering in speech affects 
the voice. It is always meaning to do and 
never doing, thinking first of one thing and 
then of another, never being able to decide 
which is best. Supposing a fireman should 
be long in deciding how to save your life 
when you were in a burning house I On 
the other hand, some promptness is helter- 
skelter, and does more harm than good; 
children excel in it. 

Punctuality. — Promptness is more than 
punctuality, which is an outward habit, and 
a very necessary one, if people live together. 
It is important also for one's own sake, even 
if he should be a Robinson Crusoe without 
a man Friday. 



PROMPTNESS. 



21 



Thought. — Promptness has to do with 
thought. It begins in learning how to think 
and reason. Behind it lies concentration, 
which first of all has made one thoroughly 
understand a subject. Then comes the sec- 
ond point, — what to do instantly in any- 
given case ; and the quick, wise judgments 
end in instant, wise action. When a boy 
saves another who has fallen through the 
ice, he unconsciously thought out long ago 
what to do when the moment came for him 
to act. When a girl throws a rug over the 
dress of her sister which has caught on fire, 
she knew long before what to do. This 
knowing what to do and doing it is called 
presence of mind, — that is, having common 
sense all ready for use. 

Habit. — Begin with promptness in little 
things. Be punctual at breakfast, even if 
you are sleepy. Be punctual at school, even 
if you have errands to do. Whatever you 
do, think out the quickest way of doing it, 

QUES 

What quality is most important in a soldier ? 
What is the art of war ? Why was not Napo- 
leon a noble man"? Why did Wellington ex- 
ceed him ? What is duty ? Can any one 
make time ? Who was Henry IV ? What 
made the difference between him and May- 
enne ? What is the story of " Sheridan's 
ride " ? Was Stonewall Jackson right in fight- 
ing for the South ? How can a Christian think 
it is ever right to fight 1 ? How do you "keep 
Sunday " ? What were the two chief charac- 
teristics of Jackson? Why does a sailor need 
to be prompt ? Have you ever been out in a 
sail-boat ? What depends upon an engineer ? 
How can you succeed in business ? What is 

TO TEA 

Is promptness a minor virtue in itself com- 
pared with truth, or does it affect the whole 
being ? 

Is promptness or patience an American char- 
acteristic ? 

How can many of the present labor troubles be 
saved by promptness ? 



and do it. By and by the habit becomes 
a quality of mind and action. Don't daw- 
dle about anything ; it takes too much 
time. 

Losses. — People who are not prompt are 
very vexatious. They always are missing 
opportunities, are just too late for every- 
thing ; and it is always their own fault. A 
prompt boy never makes use of excuses. 
He is always on hand, never keeps others 
waiting, and if they keep him waiting, he is 
" equal to the occasion," promptly occupies 
his spare moments, and is always ready for 
action. But if he puts off beginning to be 
prompt till some great occasion arises, he 
will never be equal to it when it comes ; 
he will miss the best of life, and will be 
too lazy perhaps to be even sorry. Begin 
with punctuality. Don't be absent-minded. 
Think, and then train yourself to do both 
with quickness and decision, but never de- 
spise learning through trifles. 

'IONS. 

an " emergency ? " What is the difference 
between veins and arteries ? How soon do 
you answer an invitation to a party t What 
injures friendship ? Is it worth while to do 
little kindnesses ? Why cannot undecided 
people succeed ? What is punctuality ? How 
is thought connected with promptness? Which 
comes first ? What is concentration ? Can we 
make our own habits ? Are they our masters? 
What is dawdling ? How many ways are there 
of doing the same thing? What is procrastin- 
ation ? What does it make one love ? Who 
are absent-minded ? What two habits should 
you form ? Are trifles useful ? 

CIIERS. 

Multiply instances of the importance of right 
thought before right action. 

Show how Christianity is a religion of life, of 
action, therefore of promptness as contrasted 
with the fatality of Mohammedanism or 
the mysticism of Eastern religions. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Speaking the truth in love. — Eph. iv. 15. 




Noble Life: 

LUTHER. 


Topic: 

FRANKNESS. 







Born of four generations of poor peasants 
and miners, Martin Luther was too frail a 
child to continue in his father's trade. So 
lie was sent to school to become a lawyer. 
Four hundred years ago there were not so 
many generous people ready to help a poor 
boy through school, and little Martin had to 
go about with other boys singing from door 
to door, "Bread, for God's sake." 

Living by Faith. — He loved music and 
studied well, but there seemed nothing re- 
markable about him until he was twenty-two 
years old, when he suddenly determined to 
renounce the world and enter a monastery, 
converted by fear in a terrible thunder-storm. 
After long struggles to earn the mercy of 
God by blameless conduct he gradually found 
peace and the firm foundation of his life 
in the saying, " The just shall live by faith." 

Indulgences. — He led a useful life as 
professor of philosophy in the new Univer- 
sity of Wittenberg, until his profound belief 
in the freedom of God's love was shocked by 
the near approach of Tetzel, a monk who 
was selling "indulgences," that is, forgive- 
ness of sins, or in other words, selling God's 
grace and love to those who by sin had 
forfeited them. 

This was in 1517. Luther first expressed 
his objections to several bishops, but receiv- 
ing no support from them he wrote out his 
thoughts on the forgiveness of sin and many 
related matters in ninety-five brief sentences, 
or theses, which he nailed to the door of the 
castle church on the 31st of October, thus 
offering to discuss them publicly. At the 
same time he sent a letter to the archbishop 
of Magdeburg, who, he found, had hired 
Tetzel to sell the indulgences. This letter 
illustrates his frankness, for he is addressing 
one of the great officers of the church, of 
which he recognized himself to be a humble, 
unknown member. But he tells the arch- 



bishop as he would a naughty boy that he is 
surprised and shocked that he should ven- 
ture to support such an abominable business, 
and that his position should make him 
ashamed to sell and barter the love of God. 
Yet in the same letter he addresses him in 
the forms of humility and respect. 

Courage Grows. — Gradually the ninety- 
five theses raised a great storm, and Luther 
was led in the discussions that followed to 
take a stand ever more hostile to the Pope 
and the Catholic Church, though in the be- 
ginning he had not dreamed of leaving the 
church. When the Pope, through his delegate, 
condemned Luther's views on indulgences, 
he appealed " from the Pope misinformed 
to the Pope better informed," and when the 
Pope seemed to persist in the condemnation, 
Luther appealed to a church council, thus 
implying, what he soon said openly, that the 
Pope was liable to error. And when a cun- 
ning opponent asked him what he would say 
if a council approved of the sale of indul- 
gences, he could not help saying that the 
council would be wrong, — that the only judge 
must be the word of God in the Bible. In 
other places Luther assumed to say that cer- 
tain books of the New Testament are more 
valuable than others, and that certain are 
actually pernicious, so that he was really de- 
claring that the conscience and judgment of 
each man is the only judge as to what is the 
word of God. There was no want of frank- 
ness in this shifting of position. Luther had 
from the first appealed to the Bible for sup- 
port, and he saw only gradually what this 
led to. Whenever he saw clearly the result 
of one step he did not often hesitate to take 
the next. 

But when all Germany had become 
aroused by the discussion, and Luther saw 
plainly that his preaching and writing was 
likely to split the great church of Christen- 



FRANKNESS. 



23 



dom, — when his friends asked him whether 
he was sure it was worth while, and re- 
minded him of the fate of Huss and Savona- 
rola, — it is no wonder that he hesitated, and 
agreed to write an apology to the Pope and 
offer to keep quiet So he wrote a letter in 
the very humblest words, expressing great 
love and respect for the Pope, and offering 
to take back all he had said, — if it could 
be proven wrong out of the Scripture. 

The Papal Bull. — Meanwhile the Pope 
had sent to Germany his letter, or Bull, con- 
demning Luther's writings, ordering them 
to be burnt, and turning Luther himself out 
of the church if he did not take back what 
he had written. 

Frankness in Deed. — But by this time 
Luther had begun to see what his teachings 
led to, and he was a manful, courageous na- 
ture that was only roused by threats. In 
company with some of his students he burned 
the Pope's Bull and the collected church law 
in a public square at Wittenberg. This was 
saying more plainly than in words that he 
was not afraid of the Pope, and that when 
it came to burning books two could do it. 

The Bull called upon all Christian princes 
to execute the Pope's orders, but Frederick 
the Wise, Elector of Saxony, under whom 
Luther lived, was friendly toward him, while 
the young Emperor was not yet sure enough 
of his position to proceed against a favorite 
of a powerful prince. So it was decided to 
give Luther a hearing before the Emperor 
in the Diet, or parliament, at Worms. To 
this end the Emperor promised him safe 
conduct to and from the Diet. Although 
he was warned that he was called, not to 
defend his views, but only to retract them, 
and although he knew that the Church 
would try to persuade the Emperor that he 
need not in honor keep a pledge made to an 
enemy of the Church, the brave little monk 
went on. "They may burn me," he said, 
" but they cannot burn the truth." 

Before the Diet at Worms. — Finally 
he came before Emperor Charles V., ruler 



of Spain, Sicily, the Netherlands, Germany, 
and Austria, in the presence of two hundred 
of the great princes in church and State, 
most of them careless or hostile. He was a 
small man, rather sickly, unused to the ways 
of courts and princes, and everything was 
calculated to overawe him. He was warned 
not to speak save in answer to a question. 
Then the Pope's representative asked him 
two questions : Are these your books? Will 
you take back everything in them? And 
to these he was required to answer yes 
or no. 

Frankness not Rashness. — In reply to 
the first question Luther answered yes. For 
the second he asked a little time to think 
over his reply. He was given until next 
day. It was the 18th of April, 1521. The 
questions were repeated; and in reply Luther 
spoke for five minutes, showing how he could 
not take back what he believed to be right, 
The officer urged him to reflect and change 
his mind. Then Luther replied briefly: 
" Unless I am convinced by witness of Scrip- 
ture or clear reasons, I am persuaded by the 
texts I have quoted, and my conscience is a 
prisoner to God's word ; I can and will take 
back nothing, for it is hazardous, yea peril- 
ous, to go against one's conscience. God 
help me, Amen." Then the Emperor grew 
impatient, and declared that he had heard 
enough. Luther exclaimed : " Here I stand; 
God help me, I cannot do otherwise." 
That was the launching of the ship of Prot- 
estantism. Luther's life did not again lead 
him through such tremendous moments as 
that. From that time on he was working, 
writing, preaching untiringly until his death, 
to ground and strengthen the new church, — 
or, as he said, to re-establish the old, true 
Christian Church. He had many a time 
occasion for the same high courage, but he 
himself said shortly before his death : "lam 
not sure that I should be so brave now." 

The Feasant War. — W T hen the peasants 
of South Germany presented a statement of 
grievances against their rulers, Luther sup- 



24 



FRANKNESS. 



ported them and urged the princes to make 
reforms. But when the peasants took up 
arms and burned and murdered, Luther de- 
nounced them in very strong language. 
They thought he had been false to them, 
but he was acting as a believer in peace. 

The Idol, Guzzle. — Luther was one of 
the first men to feel the close connection 
of all Germans. At Worms he said : " I 
should be tempted to give way, but care for 
my dear Germany bids me stand fast." Yet 
he did not hesitate to scold the Germans for 
their faults. " Every nation must have an 
idol, it seems; and the German idol is Guz- 
zle." Luther never dreamed of total absti- 
nence, yet he frequently repeats this reproach 
against his dear Germans, and warns them 
to remove it. 

The Duke of Brunswick had written a 
pamphlet against the Elector of Saxony, full 
of personal abuse. Luther defends the 
Elector in a pamphlet " Against Jack Pud- 
ding." He denies most of the Duke's 
charges, but admits that the Elector some- 
times takes a cup too much. This in a 
published book. Do you think the chaplain 
of any German prince to-day would dare do 
such a thing ? 

QUES 

Can you tell how much Luther wrote? 
What other preachers tried to bring about 
reforms in the old church ? Who was Wycliff ? 
What reason did Luther give for not retracting 
his views before the Emperor? Was he some- 
thing more than frank in refusing to take back 
anything 7 Can you tell what Luther said 
when his friends tried on the road to persuade 
him to stay away from Worms ? 

What is Candor ? — Take the rule : Tell 
the whole truth and nothing but the truth, 



Natural Frankness. — Frankness springs 
from various causes. With some people it 
seems natural. We call them artless, or 
ingenuous. Luther was not so. His birth 
and training was calculated to make him 
reserved and cautious. Life in a monastery 
is peculiarly a life of repression. Though he 
was warm-hearted and impulsive, his frank- 
ness was based on something else than nature 
and training. 

Frankness from Conviction. — Another 
source of frankness is the sense of duty. A 
man may speak out what he feels to be right 
and true because he thinks he ought to. He 
may do this with fear and trembling, or he 
may do so joyfully in the faith that it is 
always safe to speak openly, — that God 
keeps watch above his own. Such was Lu- 
ther's frankness. It was the openness of a 
"just man living by faith." 

Moral courage, then, is the ground of 
frankness. Paul was like Luther in many 
respects. Read the twenty-sixth chapter of 
Acts, the account of his noble speech before 
King Agrippa. You can find much more 
about Luther in Froude's " Short Studies," 
and in Mr. Mead's " Martin Luther." 

IONS. 

always and in all places, — does frankness call 
for that ? Is frankness a lovable quality ? 
Give some examples of frankness among 
those you know. What is the opposite of 
frankness i 

What is Discretion? — Do you like o 
have a friend tell you of your faults ? Is it a 
friendly thing to do? In what spirit must 
such frankness be exercised 7 May frankness 
sometimes be brutal ? When is it right not to 
be frank ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Are there any cases in which Christ was not 
frank ? 

Are Americans growing less frank ? 
Explain the difference between frankness and 
brusqueness. 



On which side is it safer to err, — too little or 
too much frankness q 

Frankness in parents, in teachers, in politi- 
cians. 













Noble Life : 




Topic : 


GARRISON, 


The memory of the just is blessed. 


JUSTICE. 




Pkov. x. 7. 









Among the list of reformers, William 
Lloyd Garrison must always hold a very 
prominent place. The work he did was that 
of unselfish devotion to an overmastering 
sense of justice. He labored for those in 
bonds as bound with them. Faithful as but 
few others were faithful, he worked in season 
and out of season for human freedom. 

Childhood. — He was born in Newbury- 
port, Mass., Dec. 10, 1805. Interesting 
stories are told of his ancestry. His father, 
Abijah Garrison, married Fanny Lloyd. 
The balance of worth seems to have been 
with the wife and mother. She had uncom- 
mon beauty of form and face, with great 
strength of mind. Puritanic in abhorrence 
of sin and in her moral purpose, she was also 
singularly firm and independent. In all her 
relations of wife and mother she was ex- 
tremely noble and faithful. Three years 
after the birth of young William the father 
deserted his family. He seems to have been 
a man of no moral fibre ; he was impulsive 
and fond of drink. 

The Daily Battle for Bread became 
to Fanny Garrison a very serious affair. 
William, when only a wee bit of a boy, was 
sent into the streets to sell home-made candy, 
to aid in providing food. He was a real boy, 
fond of frolic and fun, and with a passion 
for music. 

When he was eight years of age, the 
mother felt obliged to leave the home to 
earn support in Lynn, William staying with 
Deacon Ezekiel Bartlett, a wood-sawyer, 
who received from the lad what assistance 
he could render. 

The odds being so strongly against the 
mother, her health failed. She now be- 
thought her to give her three children 
trades. William and his brother James were 
put to shoemaking. When nine years old, 
William produced a shoe. Soon the mother 



and her two boys were in Baltimore, seeking 
to drive the wolf from the door. The shoe 
factory in which she worked failing, she was 
again left in forlorn condition. James had 
run away to sea. William had great longing 
to return to Newburyport, and to his great 
joy his mother sent him back there to the 
Bartlett wood-sawyer. 

His Schooling was, of course, scanty; 
at eleven years of age he received the last 
he ever had. 

He was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker in 
Haverhill, Mass.; but being very homesick, 
he ran away, but was overtaken by his 
master, and carried back. But the home- 
sickness putting him in such sorry plight, he 
was allowed to return to Newburyport, to 
his inexpressible delight. 

Printing. — At the age of thirteen years 
he began the printer's trade, in which he 
made rapid progress, finding it very con- 
genial employment to put the thoughts of 
others into type. 

Great Passion for Self-Improvement 
developed. He read much. English classics, 
American history, current politics, interested 
him greatly. He was fond of discussing 
public questions. When sixteen, he made 
his first contribution to the press in an article 
on the relation of the sexes. It was at this 
time that he determined never to marry, 
" and not trouble myself about the ladies " ! 
His growing intelligence manifested itself in 
frequent articles for the press on a variety 
of topics. At this time the young lad had 
a good opinion of himself, and showed 
approbativeness and self-assertion. 

Death of Mother. — About this time the 
mother died of cancer. The son's memory 
of her was inexpressibly tender. His grief 
checked the activity of his pen for a year. 
Finally he began again, discussing men and 
measures, organizing debating-clubs, etc. He 



26 



JUSTICE. 



was magnetic, humorous, social, and of 
attractive personality. 

Publishing. — At twenty years of age he 
began to publish a newspaper, called " The 
Free Press," independent in politics, with 
discussions in which supremacy of conscience 
was very manifest. An early poem of J. G. 
Whittier's found place in the "Press," and 
was the means of beginning a life-long inti- 
macy between him and Garrison, which was 
full of beauty. "The Free Press" failed, 
very largely because in that early day there 
was no great welcome for advanced thought 
and moral reforms. 

The young Garrison now went to Boston, 
and then to Bennington, Vt., to work at his 
trade. His interest was strong in temper- 
ance, in woman's advancement, in peace, and 
in freedom. At first he advocated colonizing 
the blacks in Africa, — a position he after- 
ward abandoned. At this time he believed 
in gradual emancipation, but ere long he 
stoutly urged immediate emancipation. 

In Baltimore, where he was editing Ben- 
jamin Lundy's paper, he was sent to jail for 
denouncing injustice and for championing 
the cause of the black man. On his release 
from jail he went North for funds to enable 
him to prosecute his endeavors for freedom. 
He continued his noble work. 

The Liberator. — After meeting many 
discouragements, Mr. Garrison finally estab- 
lished "The Liberator" in Boston. This 
was a paper in the anti-slavery interest, in 
which there was much plain speech and 
constant demand for a religion which would 
break every yoke and let the oppressed go 
free. The State of Georgia offered a reward 
of five thousand dollars for Garrison's arrest, 
trial, and conviction under the laws of that 
State. Undauntedly he pursued his labors, 
with at first but very few to aid him. Rev. 
Samuel J. May, Samuel E. Sewall, and 
Bronson Alcott were among the first to range 
themselves by his side. 

An ti- Slavery Society. — After great 
effort, Mr. Garrison succeeded in establish- 



ing an anti-slavery society, and he was made 
its agent to lecture for the cause. He was 
sent to England to solicit funds for starting 
a manual labor school for colored youth. 
But the whole tone of society was against 
him. He was at the mercy of that prejudice 
which, at so many points, was ready to adopt 
mob violence. The discussion of slavery was 
taken up in educational institutions where, 
as in general society, few only were found 
who believed in universal freedom. In Lane 
Seminary, Theodore D. Weld was converted 
to the cause and became one of its war- 
horses. By universal consent, Mr. Weld and 
and Wendell Phillips ranked as the greatest 
orators of the anti-slavery platform. 

Marriage. — In early life, Mr. Garrison 
married Helen Eliza Benson, of Brooklyn, 
Ct. Several beautiful children came to be 
an honor to the father and mother. 

Mobs. — At many times Mr. Garrison's 
life was endangered. The assassinating 
spirit was prevalent. In Boston, in the 
summer of 1834, there was an attempt by a 
mob to do violence to Garrison. He was 
brought very near to death at the hands of 
the mad men who sought his life. 

And all for what? — Simply because 
Mr. Garrison, being dominated by conscience 
and believing that God had created of one 
blood all His children, sought to create a 
sentiment in favor of liberty for all without 
regard to race or sex. The inhuman " Fu- 
gitive Slave Law," which made it a crime 
to aid a fleeing slave, he denounced as un- 
christian and not to be obeyed; everywhere 
he labored that all men might be free. This 
was the sum of his contention. He believed 
the Constitution of the United States to 
be pro-slavery, — a "covenant with death 
and an agreement with hell." Therefore he 
argued for dissolution of the Federal union. 

An Incarnate Conscience was this man. 
Justice was his plea; justice was his battle 
cry. 

His Flace in History. — William Lloyd 
Garrison will rank in the coming time among 



JUSTICE. 



27 



those who loved his fellow men and regarded 
not himself. Those who knew him will re- 
member that benevolent face which mirrored 
a soul full of love for God and love for man, 
and which believed that justice should be 
done though the heavens should fall, but who 
knew that the heavens would not, from that 
cause, ever fall. 

Need of such Men as Garrison. — Be- 
cause there is so much disposition among 
men to " let well enough alone " there is 
perennial need of workers to jostle men's 
prejudices and to stir society in the interest 
of advance. Had it not been for the ear- 
nest labors of the anti-slavery reformers the 
American people would not have welcomed 
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation so 
eagerly. Garrison, and those who labored 
with him, developed and organized the sen- 
timent in favor of freedom ; and so did much 
to purify our national life and to remove the 
fearful curse and blight of slavery. 

He lived a life of usefulness and died in 
New York, May 24, 1879. 

I. This supreme trait in Garrison's char- 
acter cannot be overestimated. He mani- 



fested it in all matters of public and private 
life. Because of it, he demanded freedom 
for the slave, equality between man and 
woman, humane treatment of the Chinese, and 
equity in all relations. It is a trait to be cul- 
tivated among young people in their sports, 
in family life, and in school. A boy is un- 
just who refuses to "play fair;" a girl is 
unjust who deprives a mate of anything 
properly hers ; young people may be unjust 
in their words. 

II. One's sense of justice may be increased 
by thoughtfulness as to his duty to himself 
as well as to others, and by demanding very 
rigid observance of every law of conduct 
which commends itself as needful to ideal 
character. 

III. We should all be alert to correct any 
tendencies to unjust thought or word or 
deed. If such things do not receive atten- 
tion, they will be seed grain for that in char- 
acter which will develop in ways to give 
unfortunate results. Justice is the corner- 
stone of ideal private life as well as of public 
life ; the spirit of a Garrison is always needed 
in politics, in social life, and in religon. 



QU E S r J 

How do we rank Garrison ? What trait was 
prominent in him ? What can you tell about 
his birthplace, parents, condition of family, 
bread-winning, etc. ? What must we think of 
his father leaving his home? What occupa- 
tions had the boy 1 Tell about his expanding 
intelligence. Relate his efforts at publishing 
papers. How about the mobs? What reason 

TO TE 

Impress the idea of Garrison's single hearted- 
ness, purity of character, nobility of pur- 
pose. 

Lead your class to see that each age needs 
reformers. 



IONS. 

could the people have had for turning a deaf 
ear to his plea? Was he right or wrong in 
his opinion of the Constitution and of the 
Fugitive Slave Law? Did he go "too far"? 
Can a reformer go " too far " ? What will be 
history's verdict about him ? Is there call for 
similar men now ? 

ACHERS. 

Teach that Christianity has to do with reform 
problems. 

Make clear the principle of justice as a rule of 

personal character. 
Point out how other men labor and we enter 

into their labors. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

" Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is 
he." — Pkovekbs xvi. 20. 




Noble Life: 

SYDNEY SMITH. 


Topic : 

CHEERFULNESS. 







Sydney Smith, a distinguished English 
divine and writer, was born in 1771 ; he died 
in 1845. His was a sunbeam life. Noted 
for his wit, he was equally famous for his 
kindness. He hated injustice; he praised 
virtue ; he pierced humbugs ; he laughed 
away trouble; he preached and lived the 
gospel of Christian cheerfulness. 

Facts of his Life. — Sydney had three 
brothers and one sister, — all talented. He 
was sent to school at an early age, and 
showed average progress. An English lad 
at that time, however high-born, was made 
a fag, — compelled to do the errands of the 
upper boys, made to black boots, toast bread, 
and run on errands. It was called whole- 
some discipline, but often the treatment 
ended in permanent injuries. Sydney suf- 
fered, along with the rest, many indignities, 
and looked back upon those Southampton 
days with loathing. Afterward he studied 
and graduated at Oxford. 

Love of Study. — One incident reveals 
our subject's early fondness for his books. 
An eminent man found him reading Virgil 
under a tree when all his schoolfellows were 
at play. He took the book out of the lad's 
hands, looked at it, patted the boy's head, 
gave him a shilling, and said, " Clever boy, 
clever boy ! that is the way to conquer the 
world.' 5 

First Settlement. — His first charge was 
as curate in a small village on Salisbury 
Plain, — a desolate, cheerless region. The 
duty that fell to him at once was to marry 
his eldest brother to a Miss Vernon. Being 
the first of his professional work, it evidently 
suffered ; for he wrote to his mother, " All I 
can tell you of it is that he cried, she cried, 
and I cried. " 

Sydney Smith a curate in Salisbury Plain I 
Comical enough ! Once a week a butcher's 
cart came to his house ; frequently he dined 



on a mess of potatoes sprinkled with ketchup. 
Too poor to buy books, he borrowed from 
the only influential parishioner he had, the 
squire of the region. 

Life in Edinburgh. — Later, Sydney 
Smith went to Edinburgh with the squire's 
son, as tutor. A new life opened. Great 
men were there ; stars were rising in the 
literary sky, — Jeffrey, the great reviewer ; 
Brougham, the learned; Walter Scott was 
there, then about twenty-six years of age, 
practising law ; Dugald Stewart stood at the 
height of his reputation ; Campbell the poet, 
Playfair, and many others held sway. Into 
all this the newcomer merged, finding an in- 
crease of power all the time, and beaming 
with good-nature. 

Marriage. — He married during this time 
Miss Pybus. She had a little income; he 
had nothing, unless we count six small, 
well-worn spoons, heirlooms in his family. 
Throwing them into his wife's lap, he ex- 
claimed, " There, Kate, you lucky girl, I give 
you all my fortune." 

Various Events. — Sydney Smith helped 
to found " The Edinburgh Review," and 
he advocated putting on the titlepage this 
truthful, too truthful, sentence : " We culti- 
vate literature on a little oatmeal." Poor 
but happy, this jest is characteristic. His 
name became known ; his society was sought. 
Macaulay and himself were called the great 
talkers. He moved to London, and gave 
lectures on moral philosophy that drew 
crowds, so that the carriages of fashion 
blocked the streets. He was the charm of 
every circle. His pen was always on the side 
of progress and of catholicity. 

Foston-le-Clay. — From these affairs he 
turned at last to regular parish work at 
Foston-le-Clay, — a location far from attrac- 
tive. There he labored fourteen years, serv- 
ing in the ways of country life as justice of 



CHEERFULNESS. 



29 



the peace, doctor, preacher, pastor, farmer, 
writer, and reformer in general. With brave 
heart and cheerful spirit he made the best of 
the situation. Always looking on the bright 
side, he helped the poor, healed the sick, 
punished the evil, and comforted the sorrow- 
ing. On Sundays he preached in a huge 
barn of a church to about fifty people. Yet 
he had at his home as guests every week the 
famous men of his times, and his reputation 
was far extended. 

Better Days. — As we term them, there 
came " better days ; " but he was the same 
in his bearing and happy feelings. Friends 
in power secured for him the Bristol pulpit. 
Finally he was made canon of St. Paul's. 
During all his checkered career he never 
yielded his independence or his cheerful- 
ness. His sermons in that noble cathedral 
in London were sources of strength to many. 
For nearly fifteen years he sustained the 
honor and usefulness of the office. He would 
have been made bishop but for his indepen- 
dent thought and irrepressible humor, which 
spared nothing absurd or unjust. 

The Close. — " One evening," his daugh- 
ter, Lady Holland, tells us, " when the room 
was half darkened, and I thought him asleep, 
he suddenly burst forth in a voice so strong 
and full that it startled us, 4 We talk of 
human life as a journey, but how variously 
is that journey performed 1 There are some 
who come forth girt and shod and mantled, 
to walk on velvet lawns and smooth terraces, 
where every gale is arrested and every beam 
is tempered. There are others who walk 
on the Alpine path of life, against driving 
misery and through stormy sorrows, over 
sharp afflictions, — walk with bare feet, 
jaded, mangled, chilled.'" The end was 
nigh; his departure was calm. The visitor 
finds in Ken sal Green his grave, and the 
following epitaph, which is accurate and 
deserved in every respect : " To Sydney 
Smith, one of the best of men. His talents, 
though admitted by his contemporaries to be 
great, were surpassed by his unostentatious 



benevolence, his fearless love of truth, and 
his endeavor to promote the happiness of 
mankind by religious toleration and by 
rational freedom." 

Some Anecdotes. — We have space to 
quote but a few of the sparkling sayings 
which are credited to him. Satirizing the 
selfish, he said, " Yes ; you find people ready 
enough to do the Good Samaritan — without 
the oil and two pence." 

At dinner with a large party of famous 
men and women, a French scientist annoyed 
all the rest by loudly arguing for atheism, 
and proclaimed his belief that there is no 
God. "Very good soup this," struck in 
Sydney Smith. " Yes, Monsieur, it is excel- 
lent," replied the atheist. "Pray, sir," con- 
tinued Smith, "do you believe in a cook?" 
The ounce of wit was worth a pound of 
argument. 

He preached a charity sermon, and in the 
course of it frequently praised the English 
people as distinguished for generosity and 
the love of their species. The contribution 
turned out very small ; and he said, " I have 
made a grave mistake ; I should have said 
that we love our specie very much." 

I. Sunshine. — At every turn in life he 
made light of vexations, and never allowed 
himself or those with him to indulge in morbid 
ideas, imaginative forebodings, or resentment. 
This is what he wrote to his daughter : " I 
am not situated as I should choose ; but I am 
resolved to like it, and to reconcile myself 
to it, which is more manly than to feign my- 
self above it, and to send up complaints of 
being thrown away." One of his favorite 
expressions was, "Let us glorify the room," 
which meant throw up the curtains and let 
in sunshine. Another was, " Trust in God, 
and take short views." 

II. Smiles and Tears. — Those who are 
naturally easily moved to smiles are also 
quickly responsive to the tenderness of life. 
Sydney Smith was like a child in this respect; 
he always kept young in his feelings. Great 
characters are often misunderstood. Thack- 



30 



CHEERFULNESS. 



eray has the common repute of being a cynic ; 
he was very sensitive and generous. One 
day he said to an American friend in London, 
"Go with me to St. Paul's and hear the 
charity children sing." So they went ; and 
this "hater of humanity" called Thackeray 
could not keep the tears from his face, while 
his great frame shook with emotion, as the 
children of poverty sung their sweet songs. 

III. Charles Kingsley's Tribute. — We 
all know, in some measure, what a royal soul 
Kingsley was. This is his tribute to Sydney 
Smith's memory and influence : " The love 
and admiration which that truly brave and 
loving man won from every one, rich or poor, 
with whom he came in contact seems to me 
to have arisen from the one fact that he 
treated all alike, — alike courteously, cheer- 
fully, affectionately, — so leaving a blessing 
and reaping a blessing wherever he went." 
Such a sunbeam power expands caution, 
relaxes stiff dignity, thaws coldness, teaches 
age and care to smile, mellows melancholy, 
and softens grief. 

IV. Cultivation of Cheerfulness. — It 

QUES 

A. Sydney Smith's Life. — What was his 
own choice of a pursuit ? What is " fagging " ? 
Have you read " Tom Brown at Rugby " ? If 
so, what is told there about " fags " ? Do you 
know what " livings " mean, and how they are 
given out to ministers in England ? How old 
was Sydney Smith when he died? Can you 
give the main facts of his life ? 

B. His Work. — Is it easy to sum up this 
life? Why? Can we weigh out or compute 
character influences ? Would he have been 
more useful if he had been made a bishop ? 
Are there any bishops in Congregational 

TO TEA 

If you wish to quote from Sydney Smith, con- 
sult Duyckinck's " Wit and Wisdom of 
Sydney Smith." 

Show that in wit and humor devoted to worthy 
ends, we have aids to goodness and justice 
and truth. 



is more difficult for some than for others, but 
cheerfulness can be made to grow. Cheer- 
fulness is not simply " bright weather of the 
heart," it is a climate of the disposition. 
Climate is more than weather ; and we need 
to obtain the steady habit of looking on the 
bright side. " All healthy things are sweet- 
tempered," says Emerson ; he adds, " Nothing 
will supply the want of sunshine to peaches," 
meaning that our lives and others must have 
the "cheerfulness of wisdom." Goethe de- 
clared that the surest safeguard against evils 
was " cheerfulness and equanimity." 

V. Christianity. — J esus taught all this 
on the high plane of his eternal truths. 

Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the 
world," — that is, the world of temptation 
and doubt and sorrow. In all his teachings, 
in all the events of his life, in the spirit of 
his gospel, we find the highest expression of 
a cheerful religion, a religion of light, — 
that is the term Jesus uses, — light to drive 
back darkness, light to bring the morn of 
singing hearts, light on the shadow of death 
to give comfort and courage. 

'IONS. 

churches ? Do you not think that it is noble 
to act so that other people feel happier ? What 
is meant by a " sunbeam life " ? Was Smith 
famous in his day ? 

C. Lessons. — Does not the New Testament 
teach cheerfulness ? Would not people be 
healthier if they looked on the bright side 
more ? Would they not be braver, too, and 
more useful? Which is more powerful, sun- 
shine or lightning? Do you know any "apos- 
tles of cheerfulness"? Is it not possible to 
destroy errors and bugbears by laughing at 
them ? 

CHERS. 

Call attention to the keynote in the Sermon on 
the Mount, which enforces cheerful trust. 

Explain the relation of the Unitarian faith to 
cheerfulness, with its sunny views of life 
and death and its hopeful outlook. 

Describe a cheerful thinker, a cheerful giver, a 
cheerful doer. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

"We have done that which it was our 
duty to do." — Luke xvii. 10. 




Noble Life: 

Sir Walter Scott. 


Topic : 

DUTY. 







The life of Sir Walter Scott affords an 
interesting illustration of strict obedience 
to the line of duty. His whole life seems to 
have been governed by that sense of obliga- 
tion which caused him when a young man to 
enter a profession which he heartily disliked 
out of affection to his father, and later in 
life to set himself to paying off the debt 
incurred by the publishing house of which 
he was a silent partner. " If he lived and 
retained his health, no man should lose a 
penny by him." 

Birth. — Walter Scott was born August 
15, 1771, in Edinburgh, the third son in a 
large family. While still an infant he was 
attacked by illness, the effect of which per- 
manently contracted his right leg, leaving a 
lameness which became incurable. His out- 
door life for the next few years, necessitated 
by his delicacy, probably planted in him that 
great love and tenderness for dumb animals 
which was a distinguishing characteristic in 
after life. His love for dogs is well known ; 
and he was constantly accompanied by some 
of them in his rambles, while indoors they were 
to be found wherever their master was. 

Love of Animals. — His feeling of the 
duty of man toward the dumb animals was 
very strong, and he regarded them as friends 
whom it was a privilege as well as a duty to 
care for, in return for the pleasure and com- 
panionship which they afford their owners. 

His celebrated dog, Mai da, still lives in the 
memories of his friends and admirers. It is 
said that on the death of Maida, Sir Walter 
excused himself from accepting an invitation 
to a party, as he had lost a dear friend ! 

But it was after years of happiness and 
prosperity that the blow fell which might 
have crippled a man other than Sir Walter. 

He had become widely known as a poet 
before those marvellous stories were given to 
the public. In 1812 he purchased the now 



famous estate of Abbotsford, on the banks of 
the Tweed. His "flitting from Ashestiel," 
his former home, was a sad event to the 
neighbors, to whom both Scott and his wife 
had been most valued and helpful friends. 

Misfortune. — In 1826 this devoted wife, 
who had been his companion for nearly thirty 
years, suddenly died : and in the same year 
his partner in the publishing house failed. 
Scott had gone into the partnership with a 
strong desire to assist an old friend ; but 
subsequent events proved the folly of this. 
"No more reckless, thoughtless, and improvi- 
dent adventurer than James Ballantyne ever 
rushed into business." Upon examination, 
Ballantyne's books showed a balance of one 
hundred and twenty thousand pounds, to 
meet which he possessed nothing. Scott had 
trusted implicitly to his partner's statements; 
and although morally not responsible for the 
crash, he took upon himself the duty of 
clearing up the whole debt. 

Sympathy, — There must have been some 
gratification to receive, as he did, the sym- 
pathy and encouragement of the nation. 
Lord Dudley's remark might have been made 
by all his friends : " Walter Scott ruined ! 
The author of ' Waverley ' ruined ! Only 
let every one to whom he has given months 
of delight give him sixpence, and he will rise 
to-morrow richer than Rothschild." A purse 
was privately made up for him, which he 
declined ; a friend, whose identity he never 
discovered, begged to place thirty thousand 
pounds to his credit ; and Mr. Pole, formerly 
his daughter's music teacher, offered him 
five or six hundred pounds, — " probably his 
all," says Sir Walter. But he would involve 
no friend, either rich or poor; his own right 
hand should do it. . 

He at once set about earning money to 
satisfy the creditors ; and his " Life of 
Napoleon " became his chief work. In order 



32 



DUTY. 



to make the work as valuable a one as he 
desired, he went to Paris, where he could 
obtain access to indispensable official docu- 
ments, and where he could meet personal 
friends of the emperor. He returned to 
Edinburgh in November of 1826, and in 
spite of illness sat at his desk until he him- 
self was forced to acknowledge that he was 
overdoing it. 

Work. — In midsummer, 1827, the work 
of nine volumes was completed, and met with 
an immense sale, bringing in the sum of 
eighteen thousand pounds, which, added to 
the profits of the stories of the three years 
preceding, lessened the debt by nearly forty 
thousand pounds. His creditors could not 
but recognize his prodigious efforts to save 
them from loss, in token whereof they pre- 
sented him with Abbotsford and all its 
contents, to descend to succeeding genera- 
tions in memory of their gifted ancestor. 

But this success and its pleasing recogni- 
tion did not have the effect of lessening his 
arduous labors. He completed the "Tales 
of a Grandfather," originally prepared for 
his own grandson, which was followed in 
1828 and 1829 by more of the series, and by 
a " History of France" in 1830. 

Beginning of the End. — All this time 
his health was failing, his constant work add- 
ing to his weakness ; but under the spur of 
duty he kept steadily on, dictating to an 
amanuensis when too feeble to hold the pen 
and while in intense suffering. His friends 
finally prevailed upon him to seek another 
climate, a frigate being placed at his disposal ; 
and he set sail for Malta. Here he was re- 
ceived with admiration and respect, and felt 
well enough to plan a new story, " The Siege 
of Malta." 

At Naples the news of Goethe's death 
reached him. "Alas for Goethe! but he 
at least died at home. Let us to Abbots- 
ford," he exclaimed. His arrival home is a 
most pathetic picture. When he was car- 
ried into the dining-room, and his dogs gath- 
ered about him, " he alternately sobbed and 



smiled over them, until sleep oppressed him." 
On the 21st of September, 1832, this great 
heart laid down its burdens forever. 

Jeanie Deans — The doing one's duty 
simply as a matter of course, not from any 
hope or expectation of reward, and often 
when it will bring suffering to a loved one, 
is a common theme with Scott. But, pre- 
eminently stands out the figure of Jeanie 
Deans, who, even to save her sister from a 
shameful death, could not go on the witness- 
stand and swear f alsely. Her duty — a hard 
and cruel one it must have seemed to her — 
was to tell the truth ; and this she did at 
whatever cost. It is pleasant to know that 
this character was a real one, to whom Sir 
Walter had a monument erected with this 
inscription in the churchyard of Irongrey : 

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY THE 
AUTHOR OF WAVE RLE Y 

Co tbe iHemorg 

OF 

HELEN WALKER, 

WHO DIED IN THE YEAR OF GOD, 1791 

THIS HUMBLE INDIVIDUAL PRACTISED IN REAL 
LIFE THE VIRTUES WITH WHICH FICTION 
HAS INVESTED THE IMAGINARY 
CHARACTER OF 

JEANIE DEANS, 

REFUSING THE SLIGHTEST DEPARTURE FROM 
VERACITY EVEN TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A 
SISTER, SHE NEVERTHELESS SHOWED HER 
KINDNESS AND FORTITUDE IN RESCU- 
ING HER FROM THE SEVERITY OF 
THE LAW AT THE EXPENSE OF 
PERSONAL EXERTIONS 
WHICH THE TIME RENDERED AS DIFFICULT AS 
THE MOTIVE WAS LAUDABLE 
RESPECT THE GRAVE OF POVERTY WHEN 
COMBINED 
WITH LOVE OF TRUTH 
AND DEAR AFFECTION. 

Sir Walter Scott's last words well bear 
repeating : " I may have but a minute to 
speak to you. My dear, be a good man, — 
be virtuous, be religious, be a good man. 
Nothing else can give you any comfort when 
you come to lie here." 



DUTY. 



33 



I. If we ask whence comes the mainspring 
that impels to duty, we are told that it is 
given by the sense I ought. 

" So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 
So near is God to man ; 
When duty whispers low, ' Thou must! ' 
The youth replies, 'I can.' " 

II. There are three kinds of duties, divid- 
ing them roughly : a. Duty to self. b. Duty 
to others c. Duty to God. It is always 
difficult to know just what are the true du- 
ties to ourselves ; and in this bad beginning, 
the other duties have poor ending. 

III. There are two kinds of performance 
of duty, quite different from the ones men- 
tioned above ; namely, cheerful duty and 
drudging duty. One says, "I want to do 
something ; " the other, " I must. ' ' Our New 
England forefathers were followers of duty, 
but they found very little joy in it, as we 
understand that word. 

IV. In this respect Christianity, pure and 

QUES 

A. Who was Walter Scott ? Can you give 
the dates of his birth and death 1 Do you 
know the special name he carried given by 
the public ? Can you mention the titles of 
any of his books'? What was his favorite 
home called? What abbey is near it? Do 
you think that Scott had genius ? What 
seems greater, in his case, than genius ? Did 
he have a love for animals ? Where did he 
Have one favorite dog buried ? Have you 
read any of his works 1 

B. What are the three kinds of duty"? 
Which do you consider the most important 1 
Is it possible to be a cheerful doer ? How 
would you set to work to do anything gladly 

TO TE 

Bring out the noble side of Walter Scott's 
character. 

Show the highest type of duty, which is the 
recognition of obligations not legal or 
formal. 



simple, Christianity as Jesus taught it, holds 
to joyful duty. The Stoics were brave, en- 
during, and strong ; but they had no great 
resource of hope and delight. Duty can be a 
"Lawgiver" of the Moses type, with Sinai 
clouds and " thou shalt not " for rule ; or it 
may be the Sermon on the Mount, persuasive 
and positive, saying, "thou shalt." 

V. History, religious and secular, is 
crowded with examples on which the light 
of Sir Walter Scott's faithfulness is shed, — 
Nelson at Trafalgar, Luther at the Diet of 
Worms, General Grant in the Civil War. 
But equally valuable are the cases of ordi- 
nary life. The engineer on the locomotive, 
the pilot at the helm of the storm-tossed vessel, 
the mother in her daily routine of work, the 
merchant upholding laws of trade in honor, 
the school-boy plodding through studies in 
a manly thoroughness, the reformer of slums 
letting her little candle of service shine in 
the dark, all these and similar instances are 
full of guidance and inspiration. 

IONS. 

that at first seemed unpleasant ? What is the 
story about the turtle? Do you believe in 
conscience ? Can you tell of any experiences 
that bear on this point ? Do all people see 
the same duty alike? How then shall we 
judge them ? How far do you think we are 
responsible ? 

C. What is a Stoic? Can you tell the dif- 
ference between a Stoic and a Christian ? 
What kind of duty did Jesus demand? How 
can we increase the habit of doing what we 
ought ? Are there different degrees of respon- 
sibility ? Are there any parables in the New 
Testament that throw light on this? What 
did Jesus say of a certain woman? 

CHERS. 

Draw out the scholars as to practical questions 

of honor and action. 
Explain in detail the three classes of duties. 
Do not fail to collect and tell some stories of 

noble duty done in ordinary life. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

"Our rejoicing is this, the testimony 
of our conscience, that in simplicity and 
godly sincerity . . . we have had our 
conversation in the world." — 2 Corin- 
thians i. 12. 




Noble Life: 

WHITTIER. 


Topic : 

SIMPLICITY. 







Rich in saving common-sense, 
And, as the greatest only are, 
In his simplicity sublime. 

Tennyson. 

One afternoon in December, when the icy 
winter winds swept up the hill-side streets 
of Boston's West End, a group of three were 
seeking the State House. As they paused 
to recover breath, a form glided by, — a man 
wrapped in a well worn cloak, his broad- 
brimmed hat drawn down over his brow. 

" Whittier! " murmured the oldest member 
of the party, as the figure passed on. 

The youngest of the three will never forget 
the glance of those deep, dark eyes in their 
framework of silver. 

So that was Whittier, our beloved Quaker 
poet. 

" 0 good gray head which all men knew, 
0 voice from which their omens all men drew, 
0 iron nerve to true occasion true ! " 

The young girl was privileged afterwards 
to know personally this simple, great man, — 
he whom a world-wide honor could not 
spoil; who remains to-day as unspoiled at 
heart and as plain and true in all outward 
things as a little child. 

John Greenleaf Whittier was born near 
Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 17, 1807. His home 
was a farmhouse, rendered even more bare 
and simple from the convictions and tastes 
of his Quaker parents. 

Here he lived until his seventeenth birth- 
day, working on the farm, and in the shoe- 
maker's shop during the winter. He also 
went to the district school during its short 
terms, and eagerly absorbed everything that 
came in his way in the shape of books. 
Very early in life were his tastes for high, 
pure, and simple things formed. And he 
developed also the sympathy for all honest 
labor, which he has ever kept. To him it 



was no grievous necessity, but the means of 
the very truest growth of character. He 
had also two years of academic training, 
and for a short time was a teacher. But his 
main work was in the line of editorial writ- 
ing and poems. He had charge, at different 
times, of newspapers such as the " Haverhill 
Gazette" and the "New England Weekly 
Review." 

In 1838 he took charge of the " Pennsyl- 
vania Freeman," a paper hated by the pro- 
slavery party. In a few months the office 
was destroyed by a mob. In 1847 he began 
his connection with the "National Era." 
This he served as contributor and editor for 
a dozen years. During this time his fame 
as a poet was firmly established. His poems 
on slavery were especially strong, and had 
an immense influence during the exciting 
period which preceded the war. He was a 
member of the abolition party, and an ac- 
tive co-worker with Phillips, Garrison, and 
Parker. There were times when he was 
one of the most hated men in public life, 
because of his strong blows against the hid- 
eous evils of slavery. 

He died September 7, 1892, honored by 
the civilized world. He preserved, amid dis- 
tinction, the same lack of pride and conceit, 
the same simplicity in outward habits, that 
have become so great a part of the world's 
ideal of him. 

The greatest minds delighted to do him 
honor. When his birthdays arrived he was 
literally embarrassed by the scores of gifts 
from all parts of the country. Great men 
of literature sent him letters and poems, 
school children loaded him down with flow- 
ers. And it was the man fully as much as 
the poet who was thus honored. 

In this age of restlessness, his calm spirit 
is most restful. When others become weary 
with sensation and show, his very simplicity 



SIMPLICITY. 



85 



is like some pure, fresh breeze to a fevered 
and parched land. His life is a lesson 
against pride and display, teaching us as 
Burns has it, " A man 's a man for a' that." 

SELECTIONS FROM WHITTIER TO ILLUSTRATE — 

Eis Sympathy with Labor. 

Then let us on, through shower and sun, 
And heat and cold be driving; 

There 's life alone in duty done, 
And rest alone in striving. 

The Drovers. 



Death will find us soon or later, 

On the deck or in the cot ; 
And we cannot meet him better 

Than in working out our lot. 

The Fishermen. 



Freedom, hand in hand with labor, 

Walketh strong and brave ; 
On the forehead of his neighbor 

No man writeth Slave! 

Up, my comrades ! up and doing ! 

Manhood's rugged play 
Still renewing, bravely hewing 

Through the world our way. 

The Lumbermen. 

Eis Plain Words in Rebuking Public Wrong. 

Soft words, smooth prophecies, are doubtless well; 
But to rebuke the age's popular crime, 
We need the souls of tire, the hearts of that old 
time. 

Stanzas on the Times. 



Your hoards are great, your walls are strong, 

But God is just; 
The gilded chambers built by wrong 

Invite the rust. 

Moloch in State Street. 



Art builds on sand; the works of pride 
And human passions change and fall 
But that which shares the life of God 
With Him surviveth all. 

Wordsworth. 



Eis Sympathy with the Poor. 

While there 's a right to need my vote, 

A wrong to sweep away, 
Up! clouted knee and ragged coat! 

A man 's a man to-dav. 

The Poor Voter on Election Day. 

Eis Simplicity in Religion. 

That all of good the past hath had 
Remains to make our own time glad, 
Our common, daily life divine, 
And every land a Palestine. 



Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more 
For olden time and holier shore; 
God's love and blessing, then and there, 
Are now and here and everywhere. 

The Chapel of the Eermiis. 

Simplicity in Common Life. 

Than web of Persian loom most rare, 

Or soft divan, 
Better the rough rock, bleak and bare, 
Or hollow tree which man may share 

With suffering man. 

Stanzas for the Times. 

THE SIMPLICITY OP WHITTIER AS ILLUS- 
TRATED BY PERSONAL TRAITS. 

From the foregoing we have seen that the 
poet is direct in thought and speech. He 
presents his thought immediately, and does 
not cover it up by use of ornament. One 
does not have to hunt through a tropical 
growth of words to find the real meaning. 

Whittier is the same in conversation. 

Now and then letters from him appeared 
in the daily papers. They are models of 
simplicity, — brief, direct, yet never cold or 
merely business-like. 

In personal dress he was rather old-fash- 
ioned, loving the garments of Quaker cut 
and his great cape. There was a certain 
homeliness in his attire that seemed part of 
him; yet in every place, among all kinds of 
company, he was eminently well-dressed. 

He was the same to everybody, giving a 
like delicate courtesy to the humblest caller 
and the most distinguished visitor. 

He disliked notoriety in any form, once 
saying plaintively to a friend, "I wish I 
could go to a public place without having 
people stare at me and point me out. I can't 
go on the street but they nudge one another 
and say, * That 's Whittier.' Does thee not 
agree with me that, however one's work is 
appreciated, one should have the right to 
pass simply as a man among men?" 

Through all his life the poet had lived 
plainly, giving freely to many worthy objects 
and rarely spending money for luxuries. 

The greater part of the beauty he had 
about him was the gift of old friends. 



36 



SIMPLICITY. 



QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 



How can we cultivate this trait of simplicity ? 

1. By realizing that the simple things are 
the strong things. Bread and water are such 
common, homely articles we often fail to ap- 
preciate them, yet they are the most necessary 
agents for sustaining life. 

2. Jesus taught the law of sincerity and 
simplicity at every turn ; and Whittier sang 
the Christ song of childlike trust. 

3. The simple tilings hold their attractive- 
ness. We tire of excessive ornament, just as 
we tire of sweets. A fancy beverage is a 
pleasant change, but we always come back 
to cold water. 

4. When we think, we must try to get at the 
few simple things that underlie our subject of 
thought. The tendency is to wander off into 
the thousand and one little channels of specu- 
lation. Thus we find ourselves far away from 
the one object of our desires. 

5. To be truly simple we must love truth 
above all tilings. Both our thoughts and our 
speech must be direct and clear. We must 
avoid slang and all extravagant expression. 
We must never indulge in imagination and 
romance to the extent that our vision of what 
is real shall be clouded. We must have faith 
in the simple things, that they will one day 
conquer and hold, when other things pass 
away. 

AFFAIRS OF REAL LIFE. 

1. Can simplicity ever lie in neglect of self? 

A young girl, in good circles of society, de- 
votes her time so fully to charities that she has 
none left to give herself. She goes about 
looking so shabby that her family are fre- 
quently mortified and obliged to excuse her 
to others. Does this speak true simplicity'? 

2. Can simplicity lie in affectation ? 

Many people dress in so peculiarly plain and 
unbecoming a way that they attract ridicule 
wherever they go. What do you think of such 
a case ? 

3. What relation has simplicity to that which 
is fitting? 

The Princess of Wales, in ordinary life, 
dresses very plainly, and encourages her 
daughters to do the same. On state occasions 
her attire is very rich. Does she compromise 
her principle in so doing ? If not, why not 1 

4. It is said that Franklin, at the Court of 
France, wore his homely brown homespun 



suit. Was this act fitting ? Contrast his act 
with the one mentioned above. Are they 
parallel ? In deciding if Franklin were con- 
sistent, ask what was the ideal of the young 
nation he represented. 

5. A boy or girl is ridiculed by his mates 
because he yield's simple and unquestioning 
obedience to his parents. We have all heard 
the expressions, " Tied to mother's apron 
strings," " Under your mother's thumb." In 
thus yielding, does a person show strength or 
weakness ? 

6. A girl is not allowed to read hap-hazard, 
but only as her parents and teachers choose. 
Her mates tell her she will not know different 
traits of human nature. Which is right? 
Does the girl lose or gain ? 

7. A child is made to retire early every 
night, is never allowed to go to evening parties 
and entertainments. The child thinks mother 
is hard, and rebels. Who is right, mother or 
child ? 

8. A family are seldom allowed sweetmeats 
or rich food. A person knowing this tempts a 
child to eat what is forbidden. What kind of 
an action is this ? Which is more guilty, the 
tempter or the child, supposing it is old enough 
to know right from wrong ? 

9. What do you think of the habit of exag- 
geration ? 

A girl says, " We had a perfectly magnifi- 
cent time," when the simple truth was she 
enjoyed herself greatly. What effect do such 
statements have, finally, upon our sense of 
truth ? 

10. What part should simplicity bear in the 
religious life ? 

We should try to preserve and cultivate the 
child-faith that God loves us, that we are his 
children, that he is ever near and hears our 
least cry, even if it be but of the heart. We 
must believe that because this is so, we are 
bound to do our best and doubt not but that 
good will finally conquer evil. 

11. What should be our guide in religious 
forms and observances ? 

We should respect a form or belief that is 
helpful to others even if it cannot help us. 
We should adopt only those forms that mean 
something to us, and put our whole heart into 
them. We should never adopt a form simply 
to be in fashion. There is no virtue in keep- 
ing Lent in this sense. If we learn to love a 
form, let us not forget that the truth it speaks 
is greater than its expression, and will live 
long after the form has passed away. 

" The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
And God fulfils himself in many ways. 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world." 

Tennyson. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

" I seek not mine own will, but the 
will of the Father which hath sent 
me." — John v. 30. 




Noble Life: 

SAVONAROLA. 


Topic : 

Self-Forgetfulness. 







Savonarola, preacher, patriot, martyr, 
was born in Ferrara, Italy, 1452, but his life 
became a part of the great city of Florence. 
His whole career shines with the spirit of self- 
forgetfulness. All that he planned, did, suf- 
fered, was for others, — for the good of the 
people, and in obedience to an inward voice 
of duty. 

Youth. — As a boy he was very studious, 
"working day and night;" but the cast of 
his mind was toward serious matters, to which 
books only led the way. He grew sad and 
silent ; the gay habits of Florence, where he 
now lived, were offensive. More and more 
he turned from the evils of the times, so nu- 
merous, and finally at the age of twenty-three 
left his father's house and entered a convent. 
He wrote a letter of tender good-by to his 
father, giving his reasons for taking this step, 
those motives being his horror at the miseries 
and iniquities of society, and ended- " Noth- 
ing more remains for me to say than to be- 
seech you, as a man of strong mind, to comfort 
my mother ; and I pray that you and she will 
give me your blessing." 

The Church. — But if he had expected 
to find virtue, serenity, and pure Christianity 
where he went, he was bitterly disappointed. 
The Church at that time was corrupt ; vice 
and intrigue went hand in hand. Savonarola 
soon saw that his mission of reform must 
begin at home, in the ranks of the clergy ; 
he did not flinch from this dangerous duty, 
but as we shall see, it cost him his life. 

Some Pictures. — Let us occupy the short 
space at our command by looking at certain 
representative scenes in our subject's eventful 
course ; they will tell the whole story. 

In the Convent. — For several years 
after entering, Savonarola studied, performed 
the usual duties, instructed novices, and won 
credit by his obedient spirit. His heart was 
stirred more and more as he heard of the 



doings of Florence. Liberty had well nigh 
been lost. In the bare cell, amid quiet, regu- 
lar habits, solitary and stern, the years went 
on for him until the Superior advanced him 
to be preacher instead of teacher. 

His Preaching. — At thirty years of age 
he was sent to preach in his native place, 
Ferrara ; he received no honor. The next 
seven years he went into the pulpit at differ- 
erent cities, but did not show forth his real 
power. The full fire of his eloquent messages 
was not kindled. At last he was ordered to 
Florence, and from that time, age thirty- 
eight, he walked steadily forward in the 
public eye, a leader. 

His style of speaking was impassioned ; 
dropping mere elegance, he aimed to give 
the thought. A rival monk, who preached to 
please, at first overshadowed him ; this soon 
ended, — elegance of language gave way to 
simplicity and fervor. The people crowded 
the Duomo, the largest church. His hearers 
would go away excited, discussing the fiery 
words of the fearless monk. Savonarola be- 
came the idol of the masses, for he seemed 
sincere. He lashed their vices, yet they saw 
he loved the Florentines. His sermons bore 
on practical matters ; he denounced gam- 
bling, warned against luxury, and made 
officials tremble; there was no fear of con- 
sequences ; he was utterly self-forgetful. 
Often he said that good works were of first 
importance. " God is the best helper, but 
he loves to be helped." "Be earnest in 
prayer, but do not neglect human means." 
The whole city hailed him as a deliverer. 

Lorenzo on his death-bed. — The ruler 
of Florence did not like this ; naturally, — he 
was a profligate. Many presents he had 
sent to the convent ; had tried to bribe 
Savonarola to silence ; then sent a committee 
to threaten ; then set up a rival preacher to 
draw off the people. In vain. Lorenzo 



38 



SELF-FORGETFULNESS. 



would gladly have imprisoned or banished 
the brave reformer, but dared not to do it. 
At last Lorenzo "the Magnificent" was ill 
unto death. Remorse seized him; his evil 
deeds stood around his bed like accusing 
spirits. He sent for Savonarola. The inter- 
view was thrilling. " You are an honest 
man," said the dying ruler; "you do not 
yield to threats or flatteries. I wish to 
confess to you, and to be absolved from 
my sins." Then Lorenzo mentioned three 
great crimes that weighed on his conscience. 
Savonarola assured him that the penitent 
soul always found a merciful God. But he 
did not end there. " Lorenzo," he said, " be 
not so despairing, for God is merciful, and 
will be merciful to you, if you will do the 
three things I will tell you." Said Lorenzo, 
" What are these three things? " The monk 
replied, " The first is that you should have a 
great and living faith that God can and will 
pardon you." To which Lorenzo said, " This 
is a great thing, and I do believe it." Savon- 
arola added, " It is also necessary that every- 
thing wrongfully acquired should be given 
back by you, in so far as you can." This 
request met with resistance, but at last Lor- 
enzo replied, " This also will I do." Then 
came the third demand, nearest the heart of 
Savonarola of all his plans for his fellow 
men. " It is necessary that freedom, and 
popular government according to republican 
usage, should be restored to Florence." 

Upon this Lorenzo turned away, and never 
said another word. Savonarola departed 
without giving him confession. The great 
ruler had been victorious and famous all his 
life, but he met his defeat in the incorruptible 
Savonarola. Lorenzo died in his pride and 
obstinacy. 

At the Summit. — Using language in the 
ordinary sense, Savonarola now reached the 
greatest power. He was in a position to be 
judge among the factions, and his word was 
law. Some wanted a king, but under his 
lead Florence became a republic. He was 
consulted at every point. All the time he 



preached wonderful sermons, urging reform in 
the State, in the Church, in society. Never, 
at any time, did he show a sign of self-seeking ; 
never did he flatter the people ; never did he 
forget his high standard. "True liberty," 
he said, " consists in a determination to lead 
a good life," Some modern demagogues 
might well go to school to Savonarola. 
Often he would cry out, in his thrilling way, 
" Do you citizens wish to be free ? Then, 
above all things, love God, love your neigh- 
bor, love one another, love the common 
weal." 

Danger Ahead. — Savonarola became 
emaciated and weak from his unceasing 
labors. The Pope demanded to have a com- 
plete report of one of his sermons ; it was 
taken down — Savonarola did not preach 
from manuscript — and sent to the head of the 
Church. He said to a bishop, "You must 
answer this." The sentiments were offensive 
to Alexander VI, who has been called "a 
monster of iniquity," and who disgraced the 
name of Pope by his vile habits. As a result, 
an "answer " was sent to Savonarola in the 
shape of a bribe. He was offered a cardinal's 
red hat and higher position, if he would cease 
his plain speaking. The indignant preacher 
went into his pulpit the next Sunday, repeated 
his strong declarations, and added, " I want 
no other red hat but that of martyrdom, red- 
dened by my own blood." The Pope tried 
for several years to get Savonarola into his 
hands ; failing, he excommunicated him, and 
sealed his lips for about six months, when the 
tireless reformer broke the orders, and ad- 
dressed a "vast multitude of people." 

The Storm increases. — Enemies in the 
Church, foes of the republic, arose. The 
wearied soul of the prophet was driven to 
self-defence; yet in this terrible crisis he 
sought nothing for himself. Ordeals were 
common then, and supernatural tests. Thou- 
sands of men came together one morning 
in answer to Savonarola's demand. "If 
I have not preached the truth," he cried, 
"let fire come down and consume me!" 



SELF-FORGETFULNESS. 



39 



For half an hour silence reigned, with the 
rugged, homely, but glowing face of the 
preacher turned skyward. Another ordeal 
was proposed for his followers, — by walking 
through fire. His enemies failed to meet 
the test, and all day the crowd vainly waited 
in the public square. No doubt the people 
at large found his morality too severe, and 
tired of his accusations. The tide had set 
out, and popularity was ebbing; nothing 
seemed to check it. 

His Martyrdom. — The authorities took 
sides with the Pope, and together they soon 
brought matters to an end. The convent to 
which Savonarola had gone was attacked, 
and he was led forth a prisoner. Trials fol- 
lowed; he was tortured over and over, to 
make him recant or to extort something to 
convict him; lies were invented against him. 
The horrible tragedy was finished by exe- 
cution and burning. Three faithful souls 
suffered together, — Friar Salvestro, Friar 
Domenico, and Savonarola, on the 23d of 
May, 1498, in the great square of Florence. 

I. There were two intense convictions that 
burned forever in this character, — love of 
civil liberty and religious freedom, a love for 
all this fed by the convinced judgment of his 
mind. These two ideas are at the basis of 
modern progress. 

II. There was another central truth 
Savonarola believed and enforced, — that 

QUES 

A. The Life. — Can you give the main 
facts in Savonarola's career? What do you 
know about Florence'? Did this great man 
show an early bent? Who were his chief 
enemies I 

B. His Character. — What did he aim to 
do? Was he loyal, to the Church? Do you 
think that he was put to death for criticising 
the Church, or because he got into political 

TO TE 

Make clear the true type of self-forgetfulness. 
Refer to other examples, especially in every- 
day life. 



religion was to be made real and powerful 
by reason. He was about the first in history 
who took up this line of argument so thor- 
oughly ; to-day all pulpits of any worth are 
doing that, some more, some less. He was 
at work, when the storm of hostility burst 
over him, on a book entitled, " Triumph of 
the Cross," in which he aimed to show that 
Christianity was founded on reason, love, 
and conscience. 

III. But the main lesson has been men- 
tioned already, — self-forgetfulness. When 
we see certain examples in history, we ex- 
claim, " There is an inspiring illustration of 
Christ's teachings." This course of lessons 
is intended to set forth religion in actual 
cases. In Savonarola we have a strong light 
thrown on these passages of Scripture : — 

" He that loseth his life, for my sake, shall 
find it." 

" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness." 

"Be not anxious for the morrow." 
" What shall a man be profited if he shall 
gain the whole world, and forfeit his life ? " 

" Whosoever therefore shall humble him- 
self as this little child, the same is the 
greatest in the kingdom of heaven." 

" Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a 
grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, 
it abideth by itself alone ; but if it die, it 
beareth much fruit." 

HONS. 

troubles ? Did he ever swerve from his path ? 
What name would you apply to him? 

C. Lessons. — Is not this trait of self- 
forgetfulness taught by Jesus? Did Savona- 
rola really fail ? Do you think that Self is 
growing too prominent ? What is the difference 
between self-seeking and self-devotion ? What 
did Jesus teach ? Can you give his words ? 



ACHERS. 

Ask the scholars to look up examples in the 
Bible. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

He that followeth after righteousness 
and mercy findeth life, righteousness, 
and honor. — Proverbs xxi. 21. 




Noble Life: 
BAYARD. 


Topic : 
HONOR. 







Who was Bayard, whose name has come 
down to us from the wars of the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries as the one knight 
without fear and without spot? He was a 
child of an old, noble, but reduced family ' 
in what was the province of Dauphine, 
France. The knights of that province were 
called, "the scarlet of the gentlemen of 
France," because, "as scarlet surpasses all 
other colors in brilliancy," so these surpassed 
all others in courage and virtue. Six of 
Bayard's ancestors, in direct line, fell in 
battle in defence of their native land. He 
himself was a soldier almost from his cradle 
to his grave. A second son, he was born in 
the year 1476. At the age of thirteen, his 
father asked him what he wished to be. 
" The one thing in this world that I most 
desire, and I trust, by God's help, to bring 
you no dishonor, is to follow the pursuit of 
arms, as you and our fathers have done." 
From that hour he was a soldier, knowing 
little of peace and leisure, except when 
wounds brought enforced idleness. At thir- 
teen, his bold riding of a fierce war-horse 
calls to the memory the old story of Alex- 
ander and Bucephalus. At sixteen or seven- 
teen, he won glory in the bloodless encounters 
of the tournament. At eighteen, his courage 
on his first battle-field brought him knight- 
hood. At twenty-six, he, almost alone, 
defended a narrow bridge and saved the 
army. At forty-eight, he fell while cover- 
ing the rear of the French, — who by the 
incompetency of their commander had met 
disastrous defeat, — and died where he fell, 
commending his soul to the mercy of his 
Creator, and mourned by friend and foe 
alike. This, on the surface, is the story of 
the knight who knew no fear ; of this soldier 
of the Middle ages, the joy of whose life 
was to face death every hour. 

Why then choose him to illustrate Chris- 



tian character ? Because, while his career 
was determined by the spirit of the age in 
which he lived, and by the example of the 
long line of brave men of whose lineage he 
was, his virtues were his own. On the 
dark background of carnage, of rapacity, of 
cruelty, of disloyalty and so of ruthless 
disregard of all law, human or divine, his 
life, as his biographer puts it, " shines like a 
resplendent diamond." As one without fear, 
we do not care to remember him. There 
were plenty of such, — bold, bad men, un- 
just, impure, and cruel. We seek to remem- 
ber him as the knight without reproach. He 
lived and acted where every form of tempta- 
tion was, and the verdict of his age was 
that his character was without a stain. Let 
us, if we can, point out what were the 
virtues which made men everywhere salute 
him as the knight " sans peur et sans 
reproche." 

Courage. — In that age, bravery was the 
most common of virtues. Men risked their 
lives every day for the smallest cause, for a 
decoration, for a title, for a chance of pillage, 
almost for sport. But Bayard's courage was 
of a nobler kind, — he fought to serve God, 
his king, and his beloved France; and his 
heroism was as firm in those times when 
most despair as when everything was full of 
hope. Did the army advance into hidden 
dangers, Bayard led the van ; was it hurled 
back in defeat, he was its rearward ; was a 
fortress ill-manned, and its defences half 
ruined, they sent him as a single re-inforce- 
ment, saying, " An army of sheep with a lion 
for a leader is better than an army of lions 
with a sheep to command." So clear was 
this unselfish intrepidity to all minds, that 
Francis I., in the first days of his pride, 
chose this poor noble of Dauphine to confer 
knighthood on his king. 

Loyalty. — Europe was full, in those days, 



HONOR. 



41 



of soldiers of fortune, such as Walter Scott 
depicts in his famous Captain Dugald Dal- 
getty. The bond of allegiance to king or 
native land sat lightly on these. At the 
end of their specified term of service, they 
easily changed their master for more pay, or 
a new scene, or a freak. Not so the knight 
without reproach ; he served his own land as 
a duty. When Pope Julius offered to make 
him Captain General if he would enter his 
service, his reply was : " I know but two 
masters, the God in heaven, and the king 
of France on earth." When he insisted, 
against protests, upon rising from a bed of 
sickness to go to a field of danger, he said : 
" In times of necessity for nothing should 
one leave one's prince. It were better to die 
for him than to die of shame." "Never," 
says his old servant, " would he serve but his 
own prince, under whom he did not acquire 
great benefits. But he ever said he would 
die to uphold the welfare of his country." 

Humanity. — Perhaps there was never a 
time in human history when man's inhuman- 
ity to man was, so awful as in the fourteenth, 
fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. A city 
stormed was a city in which every vice and 
crime ran riot. Nor age nor sex nor con- 
dition availed in the presence of wicked 
men. Property, honor, life all were in the 
hands of victors who knew not the meaning 
of mercy. Many so-called nobles got great 
wealth from the spoil of the vanquished. 
Bayard would have naught to do with these 
evil ways. " All empires, realms, and prov- 
inces, without justice, are forests full of 
brigands," was his motto. In his first 
campaign, his captain proffered him some of 
the spoil. "My Lord," he replied, "I 
thank you humbly ; but for God's sake, I 
pray of you not to make me take into mine 
house that which has belonged to these 
wretched people." Then taking the vessels, 
he presented them piece by piece to each 
one present, without retaining one for him- 
self, to the great astonishment of all, as at 
that time he had not in the world ten 



crowns. Wounded at the taking of Brescia, 
he was carried to the house of a wealthy 
citizen. As he was brought in, the lady of 
the house fell on her knees, saying that all 
that she had was his by right of war, and 
gladly she would give it if he would save 
the life and honor of herself and daughters. 
To which, sorely wounded though he was, he 
assured her that so long as he lived no harm 
should be done to them more than to himself. 
At parting, the grateful woman would give 
him two thousand five hundred ducats. 
Whereupon he called to him the two 
daughters, and poured into the apron of each 
one thousand ducats, as a dowry from him, 
adding that the five hundred remaining 
ducats should go to other poor women who 
had lost all they had. " As to my recom- 
pense, pray to God for me; I ask of you 
nothing further." His biographer assures us 
that he looked with sore displeasure upon all 
wanton destruction ; and that he always 
remained to the last in any captured place 
to prevent it. 

Generosity. — After the story just told it 
need not be said that Chevalier Bayard was 
not of niggardly mind ; he was the opposite. 
The great sums which in his life-time he 
received from the posts he held, and from 
the ransom of knights and nobles whom he 
had taken in battle, were all given to the 
poor and to his own followers, or else spent 
in royal hospitality to his comrades and 
friends. So when he came to die, all he had 
to leave was his dinted armor, an estate no 
greater than that with which he began life, 
and a reputation which sheds glory on his 
age. 

Honor. — Clearly all these virtues, — cour- 
age, loyalty, humanity, generosity, — may all 
be included in the single term honor, as 
Bayard himself held it. They may and 
must be included in any truly honorable life. 
When our hero, at thirteen, left his home 
his hope was that he should bring no dis- 
honor on a pure name. His father replied : 
"May God give thee grace." His mother's 



42 



HONOR. 



tender entreaty was : " My child, above all 
tilings thou shalt love and fear God's ser- 
vice; each night and each morning recom- 
mend thyself to him. Be gentle and cour- 
teous to all men ; be loyal in word and deed ; 
be a man of your word. Help poor widows 
and orphans, and God will reward you. Be 
charitable to the poor and needy, for giving 
to God's honor impoverishes no man. Such 
charities will profit you both in body and 
soul." Can any one wonder that to him, 
thus reared, honorable life meant all things 
high and noble ; that this little word honor 
contained heroism, purity, kindness, and 
above all, loyalty to one's God, one's king, 
and one's native land ? So when he came to 
die, he bewailed not his death, but only was 
sorry that he had not done his devoir so well 
as he ought, and as he had hoped to do it 
had life been spared, " For the space of a 



month," says the old chronicler, "you would 
have said that the people of Dauphine were 
expecting immediate ruin ; for they did 
naught but lament and weep. Be assured 
that it touched right closely the poor gentle- 
men, gentlewomen, widows, and poor orphans 
to whom he secretly gave of his goods. But 
with time all things pass away save the love 
of God. The good Chevalier sans peur et 
sans reproche had feared and loved him 
during his life. After his death may his 
renown abide." So this man did not bring 
dishonor on a noble name. The word honor, 
so often on his lips, dwelt as the chief of 
virtues in his heart. It had no such poor 
meaning as men sometimes attach to it, but 
was the inspiration of a life which rose high 
above its surroundings, and which we should 
rejoice to bring to remembrance. 



QUESTIONS. 



Who was Chevalier Bayard 1 What was 
peculiar in his family history'? What pro- 
fession in life did he choose ? Why in the 
sixteenth century might he naturally do so 1 
What charge did his mother give him 1 What 
is the difference between brute courage and 
moral courage ? Between fighting for one's 
self and fighting for one's country % What do 
you think was the quality of Bayard's heroism 1 
What is loyalty % Loyalty to one's friends ? 
Loyalty to your country ? Loyalty to a prin- 
ciple ? Loyalty to God 1 What is the lesson 
on this point such lives as those of Washing- 



ton, Lincoln, and Bayard teach? Is it not 
possible to be humane and generous when 
others are selfish and even hard and cruel? 
Is not human life full of examples of such kind- 
ness and liberality 1 Is honor a broad or a 
narrow virtue 1 Does it refer simply to men's 
position and demeanor ? Rather does it more 
properly mean love and admiration of all 
things which are worthy of these sentiments * 
What then were the qualities in which Bayard 
rose above his age 7 Is he therefore a real 
and inspiring example for all time ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



It is especially important that in our admi- 
ration of a great and good man, we should 
not approve the outward life by which he 
was surrounded. 

One would like to impress the lesson that 
the noblest career is possible amid cir- 
cumstances which do little to promote 
it. 



Very strikingly the story of Bayard tells us 
that the virtues which Christianity enjoins 
and the nineteenth century seeks to promote 
are the virtues which all ages reverence. 

Above all impress deeply upon the minds of 
the children the primitive meaning of honor, 
as love and reverence of all beings and 
all qualities which are high and noble. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Be kindly affectioned one to another 
with brotherly love ; in honor preferring 
one another. — Romans xii. 10. 




Noble Life: 

EMERSON. 


Topic : 

COURTESY. 







We are to consider a trait of character 
which is one of those most praised by human 
beings, but one also most rarely found in 
completeness. In selecting Ralph Waldo 
Emerson as the example we are sure of 
an admirable illustration. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes has written these strong, not too 
strong words : " What Emerson taught others 
to be, he was himself. His deep and sweet 
humanity won him love and reverence ev- 
erywhere among those whose natures were 
capable of responding to the highest mani- 
festations of character. ... If he who knew 
what was in man had wandered from door 
to door in New England as of old in Pal- 
estine, we can well believe that one of the 
households which ' those blessed feet ' would 
have crossed, to hallow and receive its wel- 
come, would have been that of the lovely 
and quiet home of Emerson." 

His Life. — He was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, on the twenty-fifth of May, 
1803, the second of five sons. His birth- 
place and that of Benjamin Franklin were 
near each other. His father was Rev. 
William Emerson, minister of the First 
Church, in Boston. One of his schoolmates 
says that as a youth, "it was impossible 
that there should be any feeling about him 
but of regard and affection." One school- 
mate recalls him as " a spiritual-looking boy 
in blue nankeen." His course and gradua- 
tion at Harvard College are remembered by 
his friends as marked chiefly by amiability, 
meditation, and faultless conduct. He taught 
school a short time and " made all the boys 
love him ; " holding perfect control beneath 
courteous manners. Turning to the ministry, 
Emerson was settled as colleague with 
Henry Ware over the Second Church, 
Boston (founded 1649), the church of Cotton 
Mather. Owing to differences of views as 
to administration, he resigned in a few 



years, carrying the love and regard of his 
people, despite the variance of views. 
From that time on he preached in a national 
pulpit, having for a congregation the whole 
country. 

His Personality. — How he appeared as 
a preacher is described as follows, by one 
who heard him in those Second Church 
days. " One day there came into our pulpit 
the most gracious of mortals, with a face all 
benignity, who gave out the first hymn and 
made the first prayer as an angel might have 
read and prayed." Another one says : " His 
voice was the sweetest, the most winning 
and penetrating of any I ever heard ; noth- 
ing like it have I listened to since. 

" ' That music in our hearts we bore 
Long after it was heard no more.' " 

With Boys. — Once Emerson invited 
some boys to join him at the Allen farm, 
near Boston, in an afternoon ramble. They 
came to a piece of woods, and as they 
entered, took off their hats. " Boys," said 
he, " here we recognize the presence of the 
Universal Spirit. The breeze says to us in 
its own language, How d' ye do ? How d' ye 
do ? and we have already taken our hats off, 
and are answering it with our own How 
d' ye do ? How d' ye do ? And all the 
waving branches of the trees, and all the 
flowers, and the field of corn yonder, and 
the singing brook, and the insect and the 
bird, — every living thing and things we call 
inanimate feel the same divine impulse while 
they join with us, and we with them, in the 
greeting which is the salutation of the Uni- 
versal Spirit." 

One of the boys in that party, afterward 
Governor A. H. Rice, of Massachusetts, 
says : "I cannot describe to you how this 
line of thought then impressed a country boy. 
. . . The interview led me into new chan- 



44 



COURTESY. 



nels of thought, which have been a life-long 
pleasure to me, and I doubt not, taught me 
somewhat how to distinguish between mere 
theological dogma and genuine religion in 
the soul." 

Concord — In 1834, Emerson moved to 
Concord, Mass., where he remained until 
his death ; and there is his grave with those 
of Hawthorne, Thoreau, Alcott. 

Concord was historic ground when Emer- 
son went there, but he added to its glory. 
" It has been an intellectual centre such as 
no other country town of our land, if of any 
other, could boast. Its groves, its streams, 
its houses are haunted by undying memories, 
and its hillsides and hollows are made holy 
by the dust that is covered by their turf." 

Love and Esteem. — This sketch of 
Emerson is wholly for the purpose of bring- 
ing out the man ; to enforce the great trait 
of courtesy, with all which that implies ; 
therefore we cannot describe his career as a 
lecturer and author, after he settled in 
Concord. In England and America his in- 
fluence was felt. 

On the twenty-seventh of April, 1882, 
Emerson was clothed upon with greater life, 
and ceased his mortal duty here in this 
world. A few sentences from the address 
of Judge Hoar, at the funeral, will show 
how beloved Emerson was by his fellow 
citizens and neighbors. " Throughout this 
great land and from beyond the sea will 
come innumerable voices of sorrow for this 
great public loss. But we, his neighbors 
and townsmen, feel that he was ours. He 
chose our village as the place where his life- 
long work was to be done. It was to our 
fields and orchards that his presence gave 
such value ; it was our streets in which the 
children looked up to him with love, and the 
elders with reverence. . . . That large heart, 
to which everything that belonged to man 
was welcome, — that hospitable nature, lov- 
ing, and tender, and generous, having no 
repulsion or scorn for anything but meanness 
and baseness, — O friend, brother, father, 



lover, teacher, inspirer, guide ! is there no 
more that we can do now than to give thee 
this our hail and farewell ! " 

The Source. — The cause of this univer- 
sal affection was not solely in the books Em- 
erson produced, but in the wonderful courtesy 
of his character, as it faced toward life in 
every relation. His home was visited by a 
steady procession of curious, eccentric, per- 
sistent persons ; he treated them all with 
gracious manner. " His perfect amiability 
was one of his most striking characteristics ; 
and in a nature fastidious as was his in its 
whole organization, it implied a self-command 
worthy of admiration," says Holmes. In a 
sly turn of humor he called these people 
"devastators of the day," but bore with 
them as one desiring to get gold out of 
every mine, however unpromising the major- 
ity were. 

Anecdotes. — " Though never ruffled, he 
was not defenceless before boorish intruders. 
A boisterous declaimer against 'the con- 
ventionalities,' who kept on his hat in the 
drawing-room after repeated invitations to 
lay it aside, was told, ' We will continue this 
conversation in the garden.' " His gentle- 
manly thoughtfulness was as natural as 
breathing. " On one occasion he was trav- 
elling in a stage-coach with a friend, and a 
third entered, a very crude youth, who, after 
listening to the scholarly talk, joined in and 
asked Emerson, ' What do you think of 
Romulus ? ' His friend proposed in French 
that they should converse in that language, 
but Emerson said, 4 No ; it would hurt the 
young man's feelings.' " 

His son, Edward W. Emerson, says : 
" My father's honor for humanity, and respect 
for humble people and for labor, were strong 
characteristics. Of servants, he was kindly 
and delicately considerate;" always fearful 
lest their feelings might be wounded. He 
built his own fires, going to the woodpile in 
the yard in all weather for armfuls. One 
anecdote of Napoleon he often recalled to 
his children. On a rugged path at St 



COURTESY. 



45 



Helena, a lady and Napoleon met porters 
with heavy burdens, whom she ordered to 
stand aside. Napoleon drew back, saying : 
" Respect the burden, Madam." His son 
also makes this comment: "Nothing could 
be better than his manner to children and 
young people, affectionate and with a marked 
respect for their personality." 

Never patronizing, always appreciative, 
expecting to receive a benefit, Emerson 
touched everybody with courtesy, and was, 
as Matthew Arnold said, "The friend of 
those who would live in the spirit " of high, 
generous standards. 

What is Courtesy ? — We see in Emer- 
son's example what deep, real courtesy is. 
Courtesy, to him, was sincerity, and fairness, 
and good-will, all round. He welcomed shy 
merit, encouraged clumsy youth, and smiled 
on good intentions, however poorly expressed. 
He did all this day after day through years, 
at the cost of time and patience and strength. 
As a scholar, he might have secluded him- 
self and simply written great books ; but the 
power he is and is to be, could not have been 
obtained that way. 

I. Manners. — Let us not be too busy and 
forget the gracious acts of life. As Dr. Bar- 
tol says : " These friendly good mornings, 
these ownings of mutual ties, take on, in 
their mass, a character of the sublime." The 
young owe respect to their elders. There is 
a great deal of affection shown in our day, 

QUES 

What are the chief facts in Emerson's life ? 
Why do we say that he preached all his life, 
though he had no pulpit ? Did people call 
him any hard names 1 Why 1 Do you not 
think he had the spirit of Jesus ? What do 



but the expression of reverence is not so 
common. Good manners are not simply " a 
fortune " to a young person; they are more, 
— the proof of a Christian character. 

II. Does Courtesy conflict with Sin- 
cerity ? — Not necessarily. It is a great mis- 
take to suppose that righteousness is bound 
up with bluntness and criticism. Perfect 
courtesy and perfect honesty were combined 
in Emerson. No one has ever uttered bolder 
truths ; never did any one accuse him of 
duplicity. We can be amiable without 
being weak. We are able to criticise errors 
and wrongs by holding up what is right and 
true, which is the most forcible way. 

III. The Spirit of Christianity. — All 
that has gone before completes itself on the 
high plane of Christian teaching and living. 
"Be kindly affectioned, " "Prefer one 
another," "Serve," "Let others call you 
higher," " Scorn nothing," " Rebuke the 
sin, love the sinner," — these and similar in- 
junctions fill the New Testament. Respect 
each other, care for each other, do for 
each other, because we are all children of 
a Heavenly Father. Be courteous to new 
truth because, as Jesus said, the spirit of 
truth is leading into all truth. Be courteous 
in the high sense to all men and situations, 
because if we love not our brother whom we 
have seen how can we love God truly whom 
we have not seen. 

IONS. 

you think of this saying of his : " You ought to 
be as just to a man as to a picture, and put 
him in the best light " ? Is not that good re- 
ligion ? Did not Jesus show what the heart of 
courtesy is in the Golden Rule ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



The following books may be consulted to 
advantage. "Emerson in Concord," by 
Edward Waldo Emerson; "Ralph Waldo 
Emerson," by Rev. G. W. Cooke ; " Ralph 
Waldo Emerson," by Oliver Wendell 
Holmes. 



Ask the scholars to bring some quotations from 
Emerson's writings on this subject, taken 
from " Conduct of Life " and " Society 
and Solitude." 

Be sure to show the qualities of a manly 
disposition. 



Noble Life: 
ST. FRANCIS 

Of Assist. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 




Love 


is of Godj and every 


one that 


loveth 


is born of God, and 


knoweth 


God.— 


1 John iv. 7. 





Topic: 
AFFECTION. 



When you visit a jeweller's store, you see 
there all sorts of beautiful articles, — watches, 
chains, bracelets, ear-rings and many other 
fanciful ornaments; but when you ask the 
jeweller what substance he used to manu- 
facture these different things from, he will 
surely reply that they are all made chiefly 
from one metal, and that that metal is called 
gold. Now some of his wonderful jewellery 
may contain more gold and some less ; in 
some the gold may be mixed with less valua- 
ble metals and in some it may be enriched 
with precious stones ; but in all his gorgeous 
display the gold is the most important ele- 
ment, and the exact amount of this metal in 
any article determines its value. 

Now to-day we are not studying the value 
of gold or precious stones, but we are trying 
to learn something about that element of the 
human heart which we call Affection, or Love. 
This quality takes all sorts of shapes, like 
the gold in the jeweller's window; but 
whether we find it in the loyalty of an es- 
caped convict toward his wounded comrade, 
or in the tenderness of the great naturalist 
Agassiz toward a wounded snake, or in the 
heroism of a dog who saves the life of his 
master's child at the expense of his own, we 
must be able to recognize it as the greatest 
of all the gifts which God has given to his 
children, and indeed as a part of the nature 
of God himself. 

Francis of Assisi. — When Francis of 
Assisi was a boy he was much like other 
boys, — sometimes thoughtless and cruel, and 
remarkable only for his love of amusement. 
But during a quarrel between the inhabi- 
tants of Assisi and those of Perugia he 
was taken prisoner and held shut within 
the fortress for a whole year. When he 
finally escaped he was stricken down by a 
fearful illness, and it was during this illness 
that his thoughts were turned toward the 



wicked uselessness of his own life. After 
his recovery he gave away all his property 
to the poor, and dressing himself in the 
coarsest raiment, he went about doing good 
and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
His first labor was caring for the lepers, al- 
though before his illness he could not look 
on a leper without disgust. He had learned 
that love for Christ can fill the heart with 
love for all who can suffer pain or disease. 

His love for animals. — Saint Francis is 
especially remembered for his affection for 
all human beings, toward the lower animals, 
and even toward insects. When in Rome 
he had always with him a pet lamb. One 
day he met a young man on his way to 
Siena to sell some doves which he had caught 
in a snare. But Saint Francis spoke to him 
and begged him not to sell the doves, but 
rather to give them to him. When they 
were given to Saint Francis he put them in 
his bosom and carried them to a convent, 
where he made nests for them and fed them 
every day until they became so tame as to 
eat from his hand. It is said that he even 
succeeded in taming a cruel wolf who had 
feasted on human blood. This was done 
through kindness and affection; for even the 
most ferocious wild beasts have been known 
to show gratitude in return for affection. 
Saint Francis used to pick up the worms 
from the road, so that they might not be 
trodden on. He loved even the purity in 
a drop of water, and tried to prevent it from 
being sullied. 

His love toward God. — The heart of 
Saint Francis was filled with a passionate 
love of God also, and therefore of God's 
world. He made the Sermon on the Mount 
the rule of his life. It was through love and 
admiration for his Master Jesus Christ that 
he learned to love all created things. Is it 
not thus that we can best cultivate affection 



AFFECTION. 



47 



and make the love in our hearts grow in 
strength and in sweetness? 

Before the religion of Jesus Christ had 
taken root in the world, men and women 
were treated with far more cruelty than are 
the animals now. Nero and his mother, the 
wicked Queen Agrippina, used human beings 
as if they were merely puppets. But Christ 
taught men to love their fellow-creatures, and 
we are slowly learning to despise the display 
of brute-force. It is not so very long ago 
since prisoners and insane people were 
chained and put into cages like wild beasts. 
The galley slaves were made to tug at the 
van until they expired in agony. It took 
the warm affectionate nature of a John 
Howard to waken the world to its duty in 
this direction. 

John Howard. — He gave his life to the 
work of improving the condition of prisons 
all over the world, and finally he died alone 
in Russia of jail-fever. He was followed in 
his labors by Elizabeth Fry in England and 
by Dorothy Dix in America. These noble 
philanthropists were filled with unselfish love 
toward suffering humanity. They devoted 
their lives to the neglected and forsaken, in- 
cluding the whole world in their generous 
hearts. 

Thoreau. — In our own New England there 
lived a very remarkable man named Thoreau. 
We heard something of him in our lesson on 
"observation." In many ways he resem- 
bled Francis of Assisi, although he cared 
more for Nature and the animal world than 
he did for man. He built a little hut for 
himself near Walden pond, and he there lived 
in the closest sympathy with the birds and 
animals. Even the snakes loved him, and 
would wind round his legs ; and on taking a 
squirrel from a tree the little creature would 
hide its head in Thoreau's waistcoat. The 
fish in the river knew him and would let him 
lift them out of the river, and the little 
wood mice came and nibbled at the cheese he 
held in his hand. Perhaps no one since 
Saint Francis ever lived in such sweet com- 



munion with the animal world. It was 
Thoreau's love for the little wild creatures 
which drew them to him, for animals are 
as responsive to love as are human beings. 

Sir Walter Scott. — We always think 
of Sir Walter Scott as a very affectionate 
man, but once when he was a boy he saw a 
dog coming toward him and carelessly 
threw a stone at him. The stone broke the 
dog's leg. The poor creature had strength 
to crawl up to him and lick his feet. This 
incident, he said had given him the bitterest 
remorse. He never forgot it. From that mo- 
ment he resolved never to be unkind to any 
animal. We know that he kept that resolu- 
tion, for he wrote many of his novels with his 
faithful dogs Maida, Nimrod, and Bran near 
him. When Maida died he had a sculptured 
monument of her set up before his door. 

We all know boys who throw stones at 
animals from pure thoughtlessness and love 
of fun. But no boy with a really affectionate 
nature can bear to make an animal or a 
human being suffer pain. A boy who begins 
by being cruel to animals usually ends by 
being cruel to women and children. 

A girl who forgets to feed her kitten or 
her canary birds over and over again will be 
apt to forget her child later in life. 

Family Affection. — The most beautiful 
thing in the world is a happy home where 
all live together in peace and harmony. 
Every child can do much to make his home 
a happy one, if he will restrain his wish to 
tease the younger children or annoy the ser- 
vants, and will try to be affectionate and 
loving toward all around him. Only by lov- 
ing others will you succeed in making them 
love you. " To be a lover of men," said 
Saint Anthony, " is indeed to live." Love 
your parents and your brothers and sisters — 
all who are within the doors which enclose 
your home. Strive to draw out the best in 
those who surround you. Never think it is 
unmanly or unwomanly to be affectionate. 
Remember that Saint John said that " Love 
is the fulfilling of the law." 



48 



AFFECTION. 



Sometimes we hear of old men and women 
who are left to die alone, whose children have 
deserted them and who have no friends in 
the world. These cases seem pitiful enough, 
and it breaks our hearts to think of them. 
But usually the men and women who are 
left desolate in their old age are those who 
have been unloving in their youth. " A 
man that hath friends must show himself 
friendly," and an aged man or woman who 
has made friends through life and been full 
of love and affection toward others is tolera- 
bly sure to be tenderly cared for in later 
years. 

But true affection is never eager for re- 
turns. We love because we must love, never 
because we expect to be loved in return. We 
do for others because we wish to make them 
happy, never because we wish them to do for 
us. 

When John Howard died he asked for no 
monument. " Lay me quietly in the earth," 
he said ; " place a sun-dial over my grave, and 
let me be forgotten." His love for suffering 
humanity had no taint of self-love in it; he 
worked for no reward. This is the highest 
kind of love, and it is love like this which in- 
spired the lives of Saint Francis of Assisi 
and of our Master Jesus Christ. 

I. Let us note a few points. The hospital 



near Boston for sick cats and dogs is a con- 
tinuation of the work of Saint Francis of 
Assisi. Also the society for the prevention 
of cruelty to animals. " The Prisoner's Aid 
Society " is a direct continuation of the work 
of John Howard. 

There was once a woman who thought 
herself tender-hearted who tried to lose her 
aged cat because she was too cowardly to 
chloroform him. Was she selfish or un- 
selfish? She could not bear to end the life 
of her pet, but she sent him out into the 
world to die of cold and starvation. 

It is far better to drown a kitten than to 
forget to feed it and neglect it. 

II. A child's affection for his parents 
ought to make him tender to his parents 
when age or disease has made them irritable 
or complaining. A love that only accepts 
and never gives is not worthy of the name. 
Affection must be unselfish and forbearing. 

III. Do not narrow your affections to your 
home or your animals or your intimate 
friends. Of course you must love those near- 
est to you best. But learn to love all whom 
you can help or comfort. 

He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small; 

For the great God who madeth us, 
He made and loveth all. 



QUESTIONS. 

Does the jeweller's stock of gold become of giving affection or of receiving it ? Should 
lessened when he makes it into jewellery 1 we criticise our parents and friends ? Does 
Does your stock of affection become lessened not criticism tend to kill affection 1 Have you 
when you give of it to others 1 Is the highest ever read " Black Beauty ? " Do you believe 
love ever exacting ? Ought we to think most in vivisection ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Describe a loveless home ; an ideal home. 

Show how we all need affection. 

Tell the story of Silas Marner and recall 

" Little Lord Fauntleroy." 
Illustrate by telling some of the miracles which 

have been wrought by affection and love. 



Point out the sayings of Jesus which bear on 
this lesson. 

Show that Christianity is a religion of love. 
Show how love toward God and Love toward 
man ought to go hand in hand. 





GOLDEN TEXTS. 

To be spiritually-minded is life and 
peace.- — Komans viii. 6. 




Noble Life: 
CHAMING. 


Topic : 
Spiritual-Mindedness. 







Channing. — All who are Unitarians and 
most people who are not know of Channing, 
the great Liberal preacher of America, who 
cared more for truth than for form, for char- 
acter than for belief. Children must grow 
up before they can realize the gentle freedom 
and wide vision in Channing. 

Boyhood. — He was always one of those 
good boys whose influence is felt, but who 
have few adventures to relate. He was born 
in 1780 at Newport, Rhode Island, and went 
to school so young that he had to be carried 
there. As he grew older his teachers used 
to tell the other boys to be as good as he was. 
" Oh," exclaimed one of them in despair, " I 
can't be like him, — it is not half as hard for 
him to be good as it is for me;" and the 
boy was right. But Channing learned rather 
slowly, and that must have comforted his 
schoolmates, who called him the "Little 
Minister," "Peace-maker" and "Little King 
Pepin." (Read your French history 715-768 
to find out about him.) Channing used to 
arrange one of the home rooms for a meeting 
house, with seats and a desk, calling the fam- 
ily together by striking a warming-pan. 
Then he would preach to them with all his 
little might. Sometimes his boy companions 
sat on the doorsteps to listen to him. Yet he 
liked to take his kite and go off by himself to 
fly it ; to wrestle for fun and to be an officer 
in a company of boys. Once he whipped a 
boy bigger than himself who was bullying a 
small fellow. Years after he said, " Thanks 
to my stars, I can say I have never killed a 
bird." How many boys can say that? 

College. — He went to Harvard when he 
was fifteen, so poor that he was hardly able 
to buy his clothes, but he " wanted to make 
the most of himself." He never touched 
wine while he was there, though he belonged 
to the Hasty Pudding Club and was elected 
to the Porcellian Club, which he soon left. 



It seems odd to think of the famous serious 
preacher as a popular fellow. He distin- 
guished himself by his compositions, and at 
graduation had the first part, an oration, 
assigned him. When men and boys went 
wrong, he had faith that women and girls 
would make things right. When a senior, 
grieved that people did not believe more in 
the power of religion, he wrote, "I found 
for what I was made," — a minister, to help 
others to be "sons of God." But first he 
became a private tutor in Virginia (and had 
a hard time through sickness), to earn the 
money for further study. 

Minister. — He began to preach when he 
was twenty-three years old, and became min- 
ister of Federal Street Church, Boston, in 
1803. His great themes were character, 
holiness, truth, freedom. He was a prophet 
rather than an organizer. The sermon he 
preached at Baltimore made an epoch in the 
growth of Unitarianism. As long as he 
lived he was the great leader of the Unita- 
rians, who have understood his breadth of 
view and spirituality even better since his 
death than before. October 2, 1892, was the 
fiftieth anniversary of his death. 

His appearance. — Channing was slight 
in frame, very pale in countenance, with deep 
eyes. He had a loose lock of hair which fell 
over his forehead as he bent forward, and 
then as he raised his head his brow grew 
higher and broader. There was a great 
charm in that heavy lock, for it seemed to tell 
his moods. If children and older people 
half feared him, they were equally charmed 
with the power of his presence and his won- 
derful voice. It was impossible to say or do 
anything mean before him, yet his conscien- 
tiousness made him so serious that it was 
only when he grew eloquent that his full 
grace and power were felt. 

His church. — The church in Federal 



50 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 



Street was moved to Arlington Street thirty- 
years ago. In the vestry of the new church 
there is still a miniature model of Dr. Chan- 
ning's church, with its square pews, high 
pulpit, and tablets of the Commandments. 
Strangers coming even from Europe grow 
reverent in their manner as they look at this 
model and think of the freedom of soul he 
has given to all who have read his writings. 

Helping. — Channing was a social as well 
as religious reformer. He spoke for peace 
as against war, for the anti-slavery and tem- 
perance movement, for the poor and un- 
educated everywhere. He did not keep his 
religion just for Sunday and the pulpit. He 
began to live as a helper long before he was 
a preacher. We all can be like him in help- 
ing and leave the preaching to others. 

Spiritual life. — The secret of Dr. Chan- 
ning's success lay in his insistence upon a 
spiritual life ; that is, upon our living as if 
the thought of God forever strengthened us. 
Most children cannot fully understand this ; 
if all grown people did, the world would be 
happier. But children can begin by watch- 
ing for God's laws, mercy, and love. 

Patience. — Children need to be patient 
with themselves and not get discouraged over 
their many failures. Sometimes, however, 
they think they can show they are sorry by 
being provoked with themselves and others. 
There is no end to trying, even in old age, 
and there is no use in being sorry without 
trying. 

Trifles. — If boys and girls want really 
to enjoy life they must begin early not to 
mind trifles, — not to be cross because they 
cannot go to a party, or eat candy, or have all 
they want. They must not think things are 
bores. A little girl said she was so tired of 
life that it bored her to change her dress. 
A boy said it tired him to see other fellows 
succeed or not succeed, it did n't matter 
which. 

Chivalry. — Though Channing was always 
an invalid he was a knight in chivalry, obey- 
ing when a boy, showing others how to 



obey when a man, never taking advantage 
of others in games, work, or thought. He 
made his own way in life, always acting 
from a sense of duty. At first it is hard 
to do this, but it gets to be easy, till by-and- 
by the hardest thing is not to be a true 
knight or a true lady. 

Character. — This was one of Channing's 
favorite words. Character is more than be- 
lief ; that is, a boy may not believe what 
another thinks is right about some doctrine, 
but if he does what is right he proves the 
nobleness of his character. Even little child- 
ren can have character; the more of it the 
better. Don't decide about a girl by her 
dress or about a boy by his awkwardness ; 
see the good that is inside of each. Don't 
pass "snap judgments," for they are gen- 
erally untrue. Be quick to find how much 
good there is in people whom you do not 
like. 

Dignity of Man. — Many people thought 
and still think that man is " totally de- 
praved." Channing preached that man lias 
it in his own power to make himself noble, 
that is why people were so glad to hear him. 
There are ever so many discouraged children 
who fancy they are of no use, that they are 
good for nothing, that they cannot get their 
lessons, cannot make people like them. If 
other boys and girls would just encourage 
these forlorn ones, and make them feel that 
there is something in them, and that they 
are wanted ! Such friendliness would be 
better than most sermons. 

Reason in Religion. — This is one of the 
great beliefs of Unitarianism which Chan- 
ning taught. He could not adopt a creed; 
he could not believe simply on authority ; he 
used his reason about religion as about any 
other matter. Some boys and girls are apt 
to be dogmatic or argumentative, so sure 
they are in the right that they will not see 
the other side. They are prejudiced instead 
of reasonable. They are not open-minded, 
patient, — slow, then sure, — yet always ready 
to listen to those who differ from them and 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 



51 



to try to understand them. Don't be a 
Unitarian without knowing why. 

Consecration. — In old times people took 
vows to serve God. Now-a-days they sim- 
ply form a deep purpose, as Channing did, to 
make their own lives noble, that they may 



help to make the lives of others happier 
not waiting for opportunities but hunting for 
them, only in such a way as not to hurt other 
people's feelings. How many persons do 
you know who have such a purpose, which 
started in their childhood ? 



QUESTIONS. 



"When and where was Channing born ? Why 
was he called the "Little Minister"? How 
could he be spiritual-minded and yet join col- 
lege clubs ? Should you have liked him for 
a college-chum, an intimate friend? What 
made his preaching great? What made his 
influence? How old must a child be before 
he can understand what is meant by trust in 
God ? What is character ? Do you inherit it 
or make it, or both ? Can people have a bad 
character ? What is modern chivalry ? Do 
you like doing your duty ? If you are cross 
about it, are you doing it ? Have all kinds of 



children the same kind of soul ? Do you like 
dignified or friendly people ? Does friendliness 
have any connection with nobility of soul? 
How old must you be before you know what is 
right, what to believe, what to do ? What is 
Reason ; what is Religion ? Is a vow the same 
as a promise to one's self? What is the dif- 
ference between promises and resolutions ? 
How can you hurt another, if you want to 
help him? How can a child begin to make 
his life noble? How can a life be more than 
a sermon? 



TO TEACHERS. 



What are the three beliefs of Unitarianism 

which Channing taught ? 
What did Theodore Parker mean by "the 

Transient and the Permanent in Religion " ? 

Would Channing have agreed with him ? 
What is a " Channing " Unitarian, what a 

" Liberal " Unitarian, what a " Radical " 

Unitarian ? 



How should you rank Channing as a Reformer, 
an Organizer, a Prophet, a Preacher ? 

Why was he not a sectarian, and yet why is he 
always named as the leader of Unitarianism ? 

Was it his love for freedom or his belief in 
the divinity of the soul which makes the 
great legacy he left to Unitarianism? 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

IVUOW yt? IlOt 1 11 cl t yt3 <X1 1? Lilt? l/tJIIUJltJ 

of God, and that the Spirit of God 
dwelleth in you? — 1 Cokijsthians iii. 16. 




Noble Life : 

JOHN BUBYAN. 


Topic : 

SELF-RESPECT. 







" The ' Pilgrim's Progress ' lias probably 
passed through a larger number of editions 
than any other book except the Bible." 
When we read a statement like that, natu- 
rally we are curious to know something about 
the author of "Pilgrim's Progress." We 
find that bis name was John Bunyan, and 
that much of his power arose from the sense 
of self-respect. Of self-respect we are to 
talk this time, — a trait that is easily per- 
verted into conceit, or easily lost in weak- 
ness of will; both errors are sad. Self- 
respect is the keynote struck by Jesus in 
those great teachings wherein he urges all 
men to remember their heavenly origin and 
their wonderful faculties. Unless we prop- 
erly appreciate our nature, we cannot make 
the most of it. 

John Bunyan was born in Elstow, Eng- 
land, about a mile from Bedford, in 1628. 
His father was a tinker. Tinkers formed at 
that time a class of roving workers, always 
poor and shabby, looked down upon, and 
spoken of contemptuously. They were 
ranked with gypsies, and went about mend- 
ing kettles and pans. The father of John 
Bunyan was a little better situated than his 
associates, and was able to keep a steady 
home at one place ; so John went to the 
village school and learned to read and to 
write. 

As a Boy he was light-hearted and 
thoughtless. Many strong pictures have 
been painted of his early years, as though 
John Bunyan had gone deeply into wicked- 
ness. These narratives are greatly incor- 
rect; he was, in the eyes of the Puritans of 
that day, very sinful, because he was not 
like themselves in religious habits. Beside, 
then as now, Christians often accused them- 
selves, in most extravagant language, of sin 
in general, who denied charges in particular. 
John Bunyan had not been roused to a sense 



of self-respect in his youth ; he had some bad 
habits, showed no aim, and was wasting his 
talents, — he was facing the wrong way. 
All that was sad enough. 

In the Army. — At about seventeen 
years of age he enlisted in the army, and 
served a short time. In one of the sieges 
a friend took his place and was killed. This 
event made a deep impression on Bunyan's 
mind, and ever after led him to believe that 
God had something for him to do. 

Marriage. — In a short time he returned 
home and took up again the tinker's work. 
But as yet the turning-point had not come, 
his habits were indolent, and his companions 
none too good. At this stage he married an 
orphan girl, who had a controlling influence 
over him. His wife was much given to 
religion and church-going ; she induced him 
to read some popular books on piety. Grad- 
ually Bunyan shook off his easy-going ways, 
his frolics, and jesting ; but in the process he 
underwent severe trials of mind. His im- 
agination commenced to work, but not as it 
did afterward in " Pilgrim's Progress " ; it 
gave him odd dreams and absurd alarms. 
The new Bunyan was slowly maturing out 
of the old ; his soul was stirred, but the 
heavenly power had not settled on him. 

Light Comes. — At last he left his fears 
and fancies behind ; the way seemed clear ; 
his duty stood before him. He joined a soci- 
ety of dissenters (worshippers not of the 
Church of England, and therefore dissenting 
from the established Church) of the Baptist 
faith and commenced to preach. True, he 
was an uneducated man, but by this time he 
felt sure of his "call" to do something for 
the Lord. The self-respect which he showed 
in a spirit of dignity and earnestness gave 
him a hold upon his illiterate listeners, and 
he obtained reputation. 

In Prison. — Here and there he went 



SELF-RESPECT. 



53 



preaching and exhorting for several years, 
when a change came in the government and 
dissenters were not allowed to do this. Only 
those duly ordained in the Church of England 
were permitted to act as clergymen. Bunyan 
would not stop, and was thrown into prison. 
This act has made Bedford jail famous for- 
evermore. Those in authority threatened 
him with banishment and with hanging ; 
they laughed at him or reviled him, but 
after each hearing or trial he said : " If you 
let me out to-day, I will preach again to- 
morrow." For twelve years this courageous 
man was confined, part of the time in a cell ; 
toward the close of his sentence he was al- 
lowed some liberty. His self-respect seemed 
to deepen under this disgrace. He was 
chained ; but with his free hands he earned 
bread for his wife and little blind daughter, 
at a new trade. During this time of harsh 
treatment he wrote several books ; and 
in Bedford jail he began the work that 
gives him now his great fame, — " Pilgrim's 
Progress." 

Honor at the End. — Better days befell 
Bunyan after leaving prison; he found ad- 
mirers and obtained influence among the 
Baptists, — they called him Bishop Bunyan. 
Those who had ridiculed the " tinker," son 
of a tinker, were now anxious to recognize 
his merit. The cause of his death lay in his 
anxiety to do a good deed. An angry father 
threatened to disinherit his son, Bunyan 
rode through a heavy rain to intercede for 
pardon ; he succeeded in his errand, but it 
cost him his life. He died of a fever caused 
by the drenching, in 1688. 

I. Other Examples. — The key to Bun- 
yan's career is found in the self-respect which 
began to govern his thoughts and acts in 
maturing youth, and which afterward en- 
abled him to meet persecution victoriously 
and to develop his peculiar talent. If he 
had been turned back by the scorn and 
odium springing from his low condition, or 
if he had listened to critics who laughed at 
his simple, direct style in "Pilgrim's Pro- 



gress," or if he had lost courage because he 
belonged to a despised sect, we should never 
have had his inspiring example. Self-respect 
was aimed at by Dr. Arnold of Rugby (see 
his life). , Dean Stanley, his biographer, 
says of him: "In his presence young men 
learned to respect themselves, and out of 
the root of self-respect there grew up the 
manly virtues." Dante, the great poet of 
Italy, gave the world a lesson when in exile 
from Florence. It was told him that he 
could return to his home and family if he 
would offer himself to the image of Saint 
John, according to custom, with a candle in 
his hand, and pay a fine. He burst forth 
to the messenger in these words : " If by 
this way only I can return to Florence, 
Florence shall never again be entered by 
me. And what then ? Should not I still 
see the sun and stars, and still ponder truth 
somewhere under heaven ? " 

II. The Trait Itself — Sir Philip Sidney 
said : " Who will adhere to him that aban- 
dons himself?" And Sir John Herschel 
declared that " self-respect is the corner- 
stone of all virtues." This may seem too 
strong, but the truth is there when under- 
stood. Samuel Smiles expresses the truth 
well in this extract from " Character " : " It 
is the great lesson of biography to teach 
what man can be and can do at his best. It 
may thus give each man renewed strength 
and confidence. The humblest, in sight of 
even the greatest, may admire and hope and 
take courage. These great brothers of ours 
in blood and lineage, who live a universal 
life, still speak to us from their graves and 
beckon us on in the paths which they have 
trod." 

III. Self-Reliance and Self-Respect. — 

There is a difference, though each partakes 
of the other. Self-respect is the root of 
which self-reliance is the growth in various 
acts or plans. Self-respect is the general 
tone and spirit running through our view of 
life, of our nature, of our friends, of our 
privileges, of our personal gifts. It is the 



54 



SELF-RESPECT. 



basis on which we build self-reliant conduct 
and self-reliant convictions. Self-respect en- 
dures, is patient, vaunteth not itself, is 
faithful. 

IV. Some Applications. — If we are 

annoyed by any one, self-respect whispers : 
" Be controlled, and do not give way to 
anger." If our lot is hard, the same monitor 
bids us serve and wait; if we have done 
wrong, self-respect often begs us to confess, 
and not lower our own standard of right by 
obstinacy ; if we are wasting opportunities, 
self-respect rebukes us. In other words, 
and as a general application, self-respect sets 
up a test in ourselves, an ideal self which we 
must try to honor and maintain. 

V. The Highest Teaching. — In the 
New Testament we find the highest ex- 
pression of this. In calling on all God's 
children to remember their relations to a 
heavenly Father, Jesus does not take away 
from the glory of God. He seeks to make 
us aware of our immortal nature, urges us to 



respect it, because God is in union with our 
powers and characters. The more we truly 
respect ourselves, the greater grows rever- 
ence toward our Maker. When human life 
was considered of little account, then religion 
was at its lowest mark. For instance, if a 
mechanic has a contempt for his tools he 
cannot do good work ; so if we lack faith in 
our faculties and inborn worth, we cannot 
do justice to our duties. Christianity aims 
to implant hope and dignity in every soul. 
That is the lesson of the prodigal; "when 
he came to himself," he respected himself 
and squandered his opportunities no longer. 
There are dangers ; we may exaggerate our- 
selves, rate ourselves too highly. There are 
dangers attending every virtue. Pushed to 
excess even conscience, justice, earnestness, 
become injurious. Self-respect must be 
guarded by common sense, love of humanity, 
and the spirit of reverence. But nothing 
can make good an absence of this quality. 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 

ter? Have you ever seen the pictures in 



Who was John Bunyan? Did you ever see 
a gypsy ? What did you think of him ? What 
did Bunyan do for a living? How much are 
you learning at day school? How much did 
Bunyan learn ? Are all people bad who go to 
jail? Why was this man put in prison ? What 
did he do there ? Did he have a little daugh- 

QUESTIONS FOR 

What is a Dissenter ? Were the Puritans 
of Bunyan's time the same as those who came 
to Massachusetts ? Can you give a short sketch 
of Bunyan's life? What is your opinion of 
persecution for religious views ? Have you 
read "Pilgrim's Progress " ? What relation 
has self-respect to Bunyan's life? Can you 
give any instances of this kind out of your 
own acquaintance? Are there any dangers 



" Pilgrim's Progress " ? Why do we call 
Bunyan a famous man ? What do you under- 
stand by "self-respect"? If you are always 
wanting something different, is that right ? 
Are you glad because you live in America? 
What do you understand by the golden text ? 

OLDER PUPILS. 

attending this trait? Would you not say that 
Abraham Lincoln was an example in this line ? 
How about such an instance as Marcus Aure- 
lius, an emperor who was just and loving and 
humble, — would you not call him an example 
of self-respect ? Does the question of rich or 
poor, high or low, settle the distinction ? Is 
not self-respect a trait needed by all who would 
be true disciples of Jesus ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Use a copy of " Pilgrim's Progress," and show 
how the substance of the allegory is always 
true, though we cannot approve many 
details. 

Be sure to leave the correct understanding of 



the subject in the scholars' minds as inter- 
preted by the teachings of Jesus and Saint 
Paul. 

Consult Southey's Life of Bunyan for an 
accurate biography. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

I put on righteousness and it clothed 
me: my justice was as a robe and dia- 
dem. — Job xxix. 14. 




Noble Life : 
CHAS. SUMMER. 


Topic : 

Conscientiousness. 







Conscientiousness, — "a scrupulous 
regard to the decisions of conscience." 
When we say a duty was performed " reli- 
giously," it is the same as a duty done con- 
scientiously. Conscience does not teach us 
what is right ; we learn that from experience 
and in many other ways. It simply tells us 
to do the best we know, and reproaches us 
when we do otherwise. We can train our- 
selves to be conscientious, to be responsive 
to conscience, to obey it; but conscience 
itself cannot be educated. It is like the 
sun. We may so arrange our house as to 
receive the largest amount of sunlight ; but 
the sun itself cannot be changed either for 
our advantage or disadvantage. As a house 
with ample windows is illuminated within by 
the rays of the sun, so is a well-trained life 
filled with the light of conscience. 

In choosing Charles Sumner as the " noble 
life " to illustrate conscientiousness, it is not 
because we lack other examples. On the 
contrary, they are all about us, and doubt- 
less we could all mention excellent cases in 
our own homes and among our own acquaint- 
ances where conscientiousness has been 
vividly illustrated; but Sumner is a good 
character to take, because throughout his 
life we find that he kept "open doors" and 
open windows to his soul, that this "light of 
heaven" might not shine on him in vain. 

Childhood. — Charles Sumner, the eldest 
of nine children, a twin, was born in Boston, 
Mass., on the sixth day of January, 1811. 
His father was a lawyer and sheriff of Suffolk 
County, and was descended from the early 
colonists of New England. Even in child- 
hood and youth Charles Sumner evinced the 
quiet, thoughtful, and serious temperament 
which was characteristic of the Puritans. 
As a boy he took little interest in games and 
frolics. He read much, and was reserved 
and awkward A jest or a gay repartee, 



even in later life, would disconcert him, so 
little did he appreciate the spirit of wit and 
humor. Society to him in early life pos- 
sessed no attractions ; and while he was 
always studious and patient, he never dis- 
played any marked talent as a child. He 
was not "precocious." 

Education. — At eleven years of age he 
entered the Boston Latin School, where 
Wendell Phillips, Robert C. Winthrop, and 
James Freeman Clarke were pupils. In 
1826 he entered Harvard College, and during 
his course took a high rank in classics, his- 
tory, and forensics, but entirely failed in 
mathematics. This fact, however, did not 
discourage him. He did not say, as is some- 
times remarked, " I have no ability for 
mathematics, and therefore it is useless for 
me to try." On the contrary, as soon as he 
graduated he devoted himself with redoubled 
energy and patience to the mastery of that 
wherein he had before failed ; and his efforts 
were crowned with success. At about the 
time he began his course at the Har- 
vard Law School it is said of him that " no 
day, no hour, no opportunity was lost by 
him in the pursuit of knowledge." While 
here he joined the college temperance 
society. 

One needs only to study the progress of 
this great man through his early years, and, 
indeed, throughout his life, to be convinced 
that his greatness was not due to any remark- 
able inherited genius, but to conscientious, 
persistent, untiring application to the acqui- 
sition of knowledge and the development of 
all his powers. He was in the highest sense 
a cultivated man ; and this cultivation began 
in youth, was continued through his school 
and college days, when he travelled in 
Europe, and all through his illustrious career 
as a statesman. His mind became, through 
conscientious, laborious, plodding study, a 



56 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 



great storehouse, filled with the richest mate- 
rials and the power to use them. 

His Great Purpose. — But Charles 
Sumner did not seek these treasures of 
learning and power for the simple end of 
glorifying himself. His object in life, early- 
declared, was to benefit mankind. He said 
in an address, given just after he had begun 
the practice of law, speaking of conscience 
and charity : " They must become a part of 
us and of our existence, as present, in season 
and out of season, in all the amenities of life, 
in those daily offices of conduct and manner 
which add so much to its charm, as also in 
those grander duties whose performance 
evinces an ennobling self-sacrifice." Charity, 
in the sense of a deep concern for the welfare 
of his fellow-men, and Conscience, in the 
sense of a power of devotion to every duty 
that presented itself to him, became and 
were always recognized as the main-springs 
of his great public life. 

Anti-Slavery. — While at the Harvard 
Law School, Sumner evinced a great dislike 
for politics, and it was not until after the 
claims of slavery were put forth with start- 
ling audacity that he entered the political 
arena. It was in 1845 that he made his first 
great speech in Faneuil Hall in behalf of 
the freedom of the slaves. In that speech 
he exclaimed : " Let Massachusetts then be 
aroused ! Let all her children be summoned 
to the holy cause ! There are questions of 
ordinary politics in which men may remain 
neutral; but neutrality now is treason to 
liberty, to humanity, and to the fundamental 
principles of free institutions. . . . Massa- 
chusetts must continue foremost in the cause 
of freedom." 

From that hour he took no backward step. 

In the Senate. — Charles Sumner was 
first elected to the Senate m 1851. This is 
not the place to narrate the incidents of his 
career as a statesman, but simply to point 
out that his lofty character never forsook 
him ; and that if any one were to carefully 
examine the measures which he advocated, 



voted for, or opposed from time to time, the 
discovery would be made that his conscience 
was his inevitable guide. Politicians called 
him an " impracticable man." This was be- 
cause he did not lend himself to the intrigues 
of parties for partisan ends. Dr. Clarke said 
of him: " He was not adroit in the use of 
language ; and so, often, without intending it, 
he wounded the vanity, the prejudices, the 
pride, the self-conceit of his opponents." 

Assaulted. — In May, 1856, he made a 
wonderful speech, rising to a place among 
the greatest orators of the world. It was 
entitled, "The Crime against Kansas," and 
it was a tremendous protest against the 
admission of Kansas into the Union as a 
slave State. " He poured forth the pent- 
up indignation of thirty years of slavery." 
The whole country was stirred — the North 
aroused to loyalty, the South to disunion. 
The slave States were stung by his righteous 
outburst. On May 22, shortly after this 
speech, while sitting alone at his desk in the 
senate-chamber, Preston Brooks, a repre- 
sentative from South Carolina, assaulted him 
violently with a bludgeon, and he was carried 
away senseless. " Our champion beaten to 
the ground for the noblest word Massachu- 
setts ever spoke in the Senate." After a 
partial recovery he endeavored to return to 
his place, but was unable to remain, and was 
obliged to retire from public life for about 
four years. 

Soon after this assault, John Brown called 
upon him at his home in Boston; and 
speaking of the sad episode, Sumner pointed 
to a closet which John Brown opened and 
brought forth a coat which the victim had 
worn on that terrible day. The collar was 
stiff with blood. Soon after, Brown himself 
became the martyr of abolition. 

Sumner's recovery was slow and painful. 
He was obliged to go to Europe and under- 
go the tortures of a treatment by fire. And 
yet he wrote to his friends in America that 
his physical sufferings were little compared 
to the mental anguish he sustained because 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 



57 



of his inability to be present in his place in 
the Senate and take part in the great events 
which were transpiring in his native land. 

The Return to the Senate. — On the 
fourth of June, 1860, Sumner again took his 
place in the Senate of the United States. 
His brutal assailants had died in the mean- 
time ; nor was he revengeful toward those 
who had done him such irreparable injuries. 

During the War. — Throughout the en- 
tire period of the war he devoted himself 
unwearyingly to the emancipation of the 
slaves and the preservation of the Union. 
His great and richly furnished mind, his 
warm heart, and unerring conscience were 
the inseparable supports of the great War 
President. His unfaltering sense of right 
and justice were constantly seen in the 
works of Lincoln's Cabinet, protecting the 
country from any loss of national integrity, 
and often guiding it safely to the solution of 
the most perplexing problems. 

Characteristics. — A lover of peace, he 

QUESTIONS FOR 

Do you know what conscience is ? What 
tells you " do right, resist, be careful" ? Have 
you ever seen a compass ? How does the 
needle point 1 ? Is that something like con- 
science % Why do people differ as to what is 
right ? Do you like playmates who " don't 



was always in the midst of warfare. He 
longed for approbation and esteem, yet con- 
stantly incurred the censure which arises 
from advocating unpopular measures. Child- 
like in his personal friendships, he often 
spoke about himself as he would speak of 
others, — revealing what others would have 
concealed. Frank, sincere, and pledged 
from youth to principles rather than persons, 
he was obliged to struggle against great 
obstacles. He could not follow the line of 
expediency, where the line of right could be 
clearly seen. He saw nothing to admire, 
nothing to labor for, nothing to be proud of, 
except the acquisition of individual freedom 
and the exaltation of mankind. To him the 
slave was a human being with a soul, entitled 
to every right and privilege accorded to any 
American citizen. And he died in Wash- 
ington, D. C, March 11, 1874, with these 
words upon his lips: "Don't let my Civil- 
Rights Bill fail." 

YOUNGER PUPILS. 

care " ? How much did Mr. Sumner suffer 
for conscience 1 Ought we to be afraid be- 
cause others laugh at us * Can you think of 
anything that Jesus said about doing right? 
Can you tell any story of what you have 
known in your playmates about conscience ? 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



What is conscience and conscientiousness ? 
In what ways, in early life, did Sumner illus- 
trate this moral quality ? Why did he enter 
politics ? What is a national conscience ? 
Why did Sumner know so little about political 
corruption in Washington % Why did poli- 



ticians call him an " impracticable man " ? 
What was meant by compromise ? How was 
the conscience of Sumner manifested in his 
attitude toward Preston Brooks ? How are 
Sumner and John Brown associated in Amer- 
ican history ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Books : " Life of Sumner," by Elias Nason ; 
article in Appleton's " Biographical Dic- 
tionary ; " Speeches ; Histories of the Re- 
bellion ; Memorial Addresses on Sumner. 
Be able to explain such measures as " The 
Fugitive Slave Law," and the " Civil-Rights 
Bill." 



Keep in mind constantly the topic of the lesson, 
and show its relation to the mind of Sum- 
ner in each one of the great experiences of 
his life. 

Draw practical illustrations of the topic from 
the pupils. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Let all things be done decently and in 
order. — 1 Corinthians xiv. 40. 




Noble Life: 
JOHN WESLEY. 


Topic : 

ORDER. 


1 







If John Wesley had not been such an 
orderly little boy, he never could have been 
the founder of Methodism. He was born in 
Ep worth, England, in 1703, and had nine- 
teen brothers and sisters, though only ten of 
them lived long enough to be educated. 

Prayers. — When they were almost babies 
they were taught to be still at family prayers, 
and to ask a blessing, though they were too 
small to kneel down. As soon as they could 
speak they learned to repeat the Lord's 
Prayer morning and night. When a very 
little older they learned other prayers, a 
catechism, and texts. 

Alphabet. — As John or any of the chil- 
dren grew to be five years old, a great event 
always occurred. The house was put in 
perfect order the day before it was going to 
happen, and each one was told exactly what 
to do the next morning. When the day 
came, nobody except Mrs. Wesley and one 
child could go into the schoolroom from nine 
to twelve and from two to five o'clock ; for in 
those hours each child must learn his letters 
perfectly. Poor little John Wesley! Yet 
he knew them all in one day. The next 
morning he began to spell out a line in the 
Bible, — not in a pretty picture-book, as 
children do to-day, — then a verse, never 
leaving the room until he could read what 
he had first learned to spell. 

A Fire. — When he was nearly six years 
old, he woke up finding the house on fire. 
He jumped out of bed ; but as he could not 
get out of the door, he climbed up on a 
chest by the window where he could be seen, 
and was then rescued. In after life he often 
spoke of his being saved as if for some work. 

Three years later he had the small-pox ; 
but as he was a good little boy, " he never 
said anything," only looked "sourly" at 
the pox. 

School Life. — By and by he went to the 



Charter House to school, where the older 
boys ate up all the meat allowed the younger 
boys ; but he used to run round the garden 
exactly three times each morning, and so 
kept well. At sixteen he went to Oxford, 
and there learned to like the book called 
"The Imitation of Christ;" yet "he was 
very angry at Thomas a Kempis for being too 
strict." In spite of his dislike, Wesley himself, 
though always very polite, was " uncommonly 
serious." In due time he was ordained in 
the Church of England, and when twenty- 
three was elected Fellow of the college. He 
planned a course of studies for each day, 
and never varied his routine. 

Methodists. — His brother Charles was 
his intimate companion. They and two other 
friends formed a small society, which was 
called the " Holy Club " by those who laughed 
at it. They had sets of questions, labelled 
in order, for their examination. From the 
exact regularity of their lives as well as 
studies they were called Methodists, in allu- 
sion to some ancient physicians who were so 
termed. The name was so quaint it became 
immediately popular. They visited the poor 
and sick, and had lists of inquiries and rules 
for general use. 

Georgia. — In 1735 Wesley went to 
Georgia with General Oglethorpe to preach 
to the Indians and the colony there. Even 
on the voyage he divided the day as follows : 
Four to five a.m., private prayer; five to 
seven, Bible study; seven, breakfast; eight, 
public prayers; nine to twelve, German; 
one, dinner; from then till four, reading or 
talking to two or three; seven, service in 
German; eight, more exhorting; then to 
bed. Almost every day for the next fifty- 
three years was divided with the same 
precision. 

Conversion. — After two years he went 
back to England, for the colonists did not 



ORDER. 



59 



like his discipline- He then visited the 
Moravians at Herrnhut, came back to his 
own country, and on May 24, 1738, at 8.45, 
was "converted" to the new faith into which 
he had been growing. 

Preaching. — He followed Whitefield's 
example, and preached outdoors to thousands 
of people, often four times on Sunday, for 
he was not allowed to preach in the regular 
churches. The Church of England did not 
approve of his ways, but the people did; 
and for the people Wesley cared. He formed 
societies and gave them lay preachers, ap- 
pointed class-leaders, and established schools ; 
for everything he did was marked by order. 
He believed with all his strength in " free 
grace," " assurance," and " perfection," and 
also in method. 

All the orderly habits of his youth guided 
him even when he was married, for his wife 
was obliged to promise him that he should 
preach and travel just the same as if he were 
a bachelor. But it was a miserable marriage, 
and she deserted him. In the last three sick 
years of his life he preached as many times 
as ever until a week before his death, in 
1791. Always anxious never to lose a mo- 
ment and to be methodical in all his habits, 
he read as he travelled on horseback for 
forty years. He delivered forty thousand 
sermons, and wrote many books and essays, 
and gave away in charity one hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, which was a great sum 
in those days. His simplicity and fervor 
were as remarkable as his discipline. 

Revival. — The great revival begun by 
Wesley swept over intemperate England, 
and crossed the ocean to America. Threats 
and ridicule were powerless against it. The 
very trees under which Wesley preached 
are still known as the Gospel Oaks, where 
the people sang the hymns written by his 
brother Charles. Many of these are found 
in our hymn-books, and are of exceeding 
beauty ; but when a man writes six thousand, 
as did Charles Wesley, they cannot all be 
equally good. 



The secret of John Wesley's success lay 
in its beginning in his love of order, and 
culminated in the wonderful, orderly disci- 
pline of the immense Methodist denomination. 
He understood organizing in a marvellous 
manner. At his death there were nearly 
eighty thousand members, whose leaders, 
great and little, had definite duties to per- 
form. Yet in his love for order he never 
lost sight of individual poor and sick people, 
but remembered to serve each one. 

Order. — Children nowadays do not learn 
to read as did Wesley, — they go to kinder- 
gartens ; but order is the rule in such play- 
schools, and the reason why they succeed. 
All other schools, even colleges, depend upon 
order, even when it is not always felt. 

Country, — The country, the State, the 
town, the home, depend upon order. Sup- 
posing each one did what he wished, without 
regard to others, — that meals, parties, les- 
sons came at any time; that caucuses and 
elections happened when any one wanted 
anything; that prisons and hospitals took 
people or not just as superintendents felt; 
that any one was everybody's policeman, 
yet no one wanted to be looked after him- 
self, — what a hard time all people would 
have! 

The great enemy of order is laziness. It 
is too much trouble to do a thing when it 
ought to be done instead of doing it when 
you want to do it. 

Habits. — Good habits are the first steps 
in order for children, — punctuality, neat- 
ness, a place for everything, etc. Yet do not 
let habits master you, so that you never can 
do anything except in a fixed manner at a 
fixed time, and cannot give up your way of 
doing for the sake of something greater. 
Only be sure it is really greater; then do it 
in all gentleness toward those with whom 
you differ. 

Thought. — Children should learn to 
think, talk, read in an orderly manner, which 
will make them even more entertaining than 
if they are nighty. A boy need not be a 



60 



ORDER. 



prig, nor a girl " set," just because either of 
them is orderly. 

Principles. — These ought to govern 
habits. Habits may make one disagreeable 
and fussy ; principles make one broad, far- 
seeing, sympathetic, and independent. Suc- 
cess in life depends upon having the principle 
of order. Always do the important thing 
first ; for that is what order means. Some 
boys and girls are orderly about their rooms, 
but disorderly in their ways of doing things, 
— always in a hurry, and always puzzled 
what to do next. Orderly people make 
plans, allow a margin of time for carrying 
them out, so that they shall not overlap one 
duty with another ; and then if there is any 
time left, they fill it with some extra em- 
ployment or enjoyment, which they have 
kept in the background all ready for use. 

Order as Law, — Inventions depend upon 

QUESTIONS FOR 
What kind of a boy was John Wesley? 
Why was it right that he should be taught to 
pray ? How did he learn to read ? How did 
he show presence of mind ? How should a boy 
behave when he is sick? What did Wesley 
do on shipboard ? Why did he not get tired ? 
Do you make plans about your work, play, 

QUESTIONS FOR 
When was the " Imitation of Christ " written, 
and why is it often ranked next to the Bible ? 
Why was the nickname of Methodist given ? 
What is meant by " conversion ? " Who were 
the Moravians and Count Zinzendorf ? Who 
was Whitefield ? How did the orderly habits 
of his youth help Wesley in organizing ? How 

TO TEA 

Show the relation of " free grace," " assur- 
ance," and "perfection" to Unitarianism. 

Speak of Methodism in this country, of the 
Deed of Declaration, of the General Con- 
ference, of the bishops. 

Show why Methodism is akin to Channing's 
doctrine of the dignity of man, and why it 
falls short of the freedom of Unitarianism. 

What did Wesley mean by saying that repent- 
ance is the porch of religion, faith its door, 
and holiness religion itself? 



the right order of one part to another, like 
that of the printing-press, the cotton-loom, 
the steam-engine. Science shows us that 
Nature is full of order, as in crystals and 
plants. History shows that all progress has 
depended upon rightful order, and that revo- 
lutions have occurred when that progress 
was checked, like the Fall of Rome and the 
French Revolution. 

Results. — Orderly boys and girls are 
fair scholars, firm friends, and good planners, 
They make few mistakes, and succeed pretty 
well in all they do. Order does not make a 
genius ; but a genius without order is exas- 
perating when he is a man, and is only par- 
doned for his want of order when he is a 
boy because he is expected to do better each 
day. Begin with orderly habits,' next try 
order in thought; and then will follow 
naturally order in principles. 

YOUNG PUPILS. 

lessons? What are "methods" ? How many 
sermons did Wesley preach ? Was he gener- 
ous? What is the harm in laziness? Why 
are children so often in a hurry ? Why do you 
dislike some orderly people? If you have 
good habits, how did you get them? How 
does order help success ? 

OLDER PUPILS. 

is order shown in inventions, by science, and 
through history ? (Give other illustrations 
than those in the lesson.) What is the differ- 
ence between principles and habits? Which 
are the safer guide ? Can the result of both 
often be alike in action, though the motives 
differ? What is the Salvation Army? 

C H E R S. 

Why are sudden conversions not as possible 
to day as a hundred years ago? 

Does not all growth have in it moments of 
distinct vision ? 

References. — " Study of the Sects," by Kev. 
William H. Lyon. "History of Metho- 
dism," by Dr. Abel Stevens, 3 vols. "Life 
of John Wesley," by Southey. "Life of 
John and Charles Wesley," by Moore, 
2 vols, (quaint, old-fashioned). 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

This gospel of the kingdom shall ho 
preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations. — Matt. xxiv. 14. 




Noble Life: 

DaYid Livingstone. 


Topic : 

Missionary Spirit. 







Jesus wished to have all the world know 
the truth he spoke. He sent out his friends 
to preach what they had learned of him. 
He wanted to help all people to know God 
as a Heavenly Father, that a great, sweet 
life is to come in the future, and that good- 
ness and helpfulness lead to peace of heart. 
His friends preached, and people were glad 
to hear them; for they were made better and 
more godlike by his spirit of truth and by 
his love. 

Early Missionaries. — The first great 
missionary was the Apostle Paul. He went 
all through Asia Minor, Greece, and to 
Rome, preaching about Jesus and his gospel. 
He formed many churches. Others did as 
he did, and preached all over the Roman 
Empire. Then very noble men preached in 
the North of Europe, and made the rude 
people there live better and more gently. 
It is a wonderful story about these mission- 
aries, — how they suffered and toiled, how 
earnest they were to teach people, and how 
humbly they tried to be like their Master. 
What Augustine did in Britain, Ulfila in 
Gothland, and Boniface in Germany, is a 
great story. 

Modern Missions. — In the last hun- 
dred years many missionaries have gone to 
heathen countries to teach the people. Some 
have been among the Indians, some in China, 
some in Africa, some in the islands of the 
Pacific. They have not all been good or 
wise men ; but on the whole they have done 
a great deal to make the world better, to 
civilize savage races, and to put children 
into schools. They have followed the exam- 
ple of Eliot in his work among the Indians, 
that of Bishop Heber in India, and that of 
Martyn in Cawnpore. Heber was a gentle 
and good man, who went to India, built 
schools, and labored very earnestly to teach 
and help the people, and died worn out by 



his labors. Another great missionary in 
India was Judson, whose work is known to 
all for its zeal, devotion, and high aims. 

David Livingstone. — In this century 
the man who best shows us the true mis- 
sionary spirit is Livingstone. He was a 
good man ; he loved the people he went 
to help, and he devoted his whole life to 
this work with a remarkable singleness of 
purpose. 

Livingstone's Boyhood. — He was born 
in Scotland, March 19, 1813, of poor parents. 
He loved books as a boy, studied hard to 
know about rocks and plants, worked in 
a cotton-mill and earned money to go to a 
medical school. He was honest, helped his 
mother scrub the floors, and read all the 
books he could. " My reading in the fac- 
tory," he said, " was carried on by placing 
the book on a portion of the spinning-jenny, 
so that I could catch sentence after sentence 
as I passed at my work. I thus kept up a 
pretty constant study, undisturbed by the 
roar of machinery." Very early Livingstone 
began to think about being a missionary. 
He read about travels in Africa, about the 
work of Henry Martyn, and about the 
Moravian missions. He heard about China 
and the need of medical missionaries there ; 
and he says that " from this time my efforts 
were constantly devoted toward this object 
without any fluctuation." In 1838 he went 
to London, studied medicine and theology, 
and in 1840 was ordained. 

Goes to Africa. — Livingstone wanted 
to go to China ; but he met Dr. Moffat, who 
was then home from Africa, and was per- 
suaded to change his plans. Early in 1841 
he reached Algoa Bay, at the south end of 
Africa. Then he went to Dr. Moffat's mis- 
sionary station at Kuruman ; but here he 
found the missionaries did not work well 
together, that there were more men than 



62 



MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 



work, and he pushed on into regions where 
no one had been before. " I really am am- 
bitious," he wrote, " to preach beyond other 
men's lines. I am determined to go on, and 
do all I can while able for the poor, degraded 
people in the North." This feeling sent him 
into the wilderness, where he discovered 
Lake 'Ngami in 1849. He worked as a 
missionary among the Makololo, near this 
lake. He had married; and now he sent 
home his wife and children to England, and 
then plunged into the great wilderness to 
find what opportunities it afforded. In 1852 
he started on his first great journey, made 
more discoveries, and crossed Africa from 
east to west, going to the Portuguese settle- 
ments at Loanda, and then back again to the 
east coast. It was hard work, many were 
the difficulties, and his life was in peril oft. 
Yet he saw Africa as no one before had seen 
it ; and when he returned to England in 
1857 he found himself famous, honored on 
every hand, and everybody ready to help on 
his great and noble work. 

Livingstone, the Discoverer. — In 1859 
he returned to Africa with men and money 
to explore further and to see what could be 
done for the good of the country. He ex- 
plored the Zambesi River, on the east coast ; 
then he turned north and discovered Lake 
Nyassa, and became familiar with the east 
side of Africa, — its people, rivers, lakes, 
and mountains. He returned home in 1864, 
but'went back the next year to seek out the 
source of the Nile. In 1865 he started from 
the mouth of Rovuma on his longest and 
last journey, going to Lake Nyassa, then 
northwest, where he discovered the three 
great lakes, Moero, Bangweolo, and Tan- 
ganyika. This was the hardest and most 
perilous of all his journeys; for he was often 
sick, his men were not faithful, the country 
was in a state of war, his money gave out, 
and he was in a very bad condition when 
Henry M. Stanley found him in 1871. 
Stanley furnished him with money and men, 
and he started again for the great interior 



region to discover the source of the Nile, 
and then to return home and die. He was 
now sixty years old, his health had given 
way, but he persisted in the effort to finish 
his work. He grew weaker from month to 
month, but would not turn back. Finally, 
May 1, 1879, his men found him on his 
knees in his tent, dead. This was at the 
village of Ilala, on the southwest shore of 
Lake Bangweolo. 

Livingstone's Work. — When Living- 
stone started on his last journey, aftor leav- 
ing Stanley, he wrote : " No one will cut me 
out after this exploration is accomplished, 
and may the good Lord of all help me to 
show myself one of his stout-hearted ser- 
vants, an honor to my children, and perhaps 
to my country and race." He discovered 
much of the interior of Africa, he made 
known to Europe the awful nature of the 
slave-trade in Africa, and he gave a great 
impulse to the discovery, settlement, and 
evangelization of that continent. In 1858 
he said : " I know that in a few years I shall 
be cut off in that country, which is now 
open. Do not let it be shut again." Now 
the region he discovered has been built over 
with railroads, towns, and farms ; and Africa 
is on the way to become a continent of 
civilized, peaceful, and Christian people. 
" Livingstone himself travelled twenty-nine 
thousand miles in Africa," says Blaikie, 
" and added to the known part of the globe 
about a million square miles. He discovered 
Lakes 'Ngami, Shirwa, Nyassa, Moero, and 
Bangweolo; the upper Zambesi, and many 
other rivers ; made known the wonderful 
Victoria Falls ; . . . and through no fault 
of his own, just missed the information that 
would have set at rest all his surmises about 
the sources of the Nile. . . . Last, but not 
least, we note the marvellous expansion of 
missionary enterprise since his death. He 
had a wonderful power to draw men to the 
mission field. In his own quiet way, he not 
only enlisted recruits, but inspired them with 
the enthusiasm of their calling." One friend 



MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 



63 



wrote to him : " That Cambridge visit of 
yours lighted a candle which will never, 
never go out." 

Livingstone's Character. — It was what 
Livingstone was as a man, his Christian 
character, which reveals his true work. 
Above all things he loved men, desired to 
help and teach them. Among savage races 
he was their friend, used methods of peace 
and gentleness, and always inspired con- 
fidence. He was fully alive to the evil of 
the slave-trade, and did more than any one 
to move the world to put it down. In 1872 
he wrote a letter, from which these words are 
put on his tomb in Westminster Abbey : 
" All I can add in my loneliness is, may 
Heaven's rich blessings come down on every 
one, American, English, or Turk, who will 
help to heal the open sore of the world." 
He was brave, plucky, honest, and sincere. 
He won affection, was always just, never 
swerved from his purpose, and lived a life 
of true moral devotion. " You may take 
any point in Dr. Livingstone's character," 
Stanley wrote, " and analyze it carefully, 
and I will challenge any man to find a fault 
in it." He gave the reason for this when 
he wrote : " His religion is a constant, ear- 
nest, sincere practice. It is neither demon- 

QUESTIONS FOR 

When was Livingstone born? How was 
he educated? Why did he go to Africa? 
What did he discover? What was his work 
as a missionary ? Who found him when the 

QUESTIONS FOR 
What did Livingstone think of the slave- 
trade? What other man like him? Are 
missions desirable? What good do they ac- 

TO TEi 
Biographies of Livingstone by Thomas Hughes 
and W. G. Blaikie are the best to consult. 
Also his own books are indispensable 
for a true knowledge of the man. Stan- 
ley's " How I Found Livingstone " is of 
value. 

Aim to show that Livingstone carried to the 



strative nor loud, but manifests itself in a 
quiet practical way, and is always at work. 
In him religion exhibits its loveliest features • 
it governs his conduct, not only toward his 
servants, but toward the natives, the bigoted 
Mohammedans and all who come in contact 
with him. Without it, Livingstone, with his 
ardent temperament, his enthusiasm, his high 
spirit, and courage, must have become un- 
companionable and a hard master. Religion 
has tamed him and made him a Christian 
gentleman, the most companionable of men 
and indulgent of masters." 

Missionary Spirit. — To seek out the 
ignorant, vicious, and benighted of the world, 
teach, help, and love them, show them how 
to live, how to be like Christ, — this is the 
missionary spirit. The gospel of truth, 
peace, love, self-help, and virtue will purify? 
enlighten, and save them. There is no 
greater work than to carry the spirit of 
Christ to men with the purpose and aims 
which Livingstone manifested in so grand a 
way The missionary spirit is in these words 
he wrote near the end of his life, when very 
weak and ill: "Nothing earthly will make 
me give up my work in despair. I encour- 
age myself in the Lord my God, and go 
forward." 

YOUNGER PUPILS. 

world thought him lost? What great dis- 
covery did he try to make? What was his 
character ? 

OLDER PUPILS. 

complish ? Tell of some of the missions and 
missionaries you know about. Do you think 
we ought to give money for missions ? 

CHERS. 

people of Africa the knowledge and virtue 
which would civilize and elevate them. 
Show that we ought to do what we can to 
spread the light in the dark places of the 
earth ; and that even our little gift may do 
some good. 
The teacher should add questions. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Jesus, though he was a son, yet learned 
obedience by the things which he suf- 
fered; and having been made perfect he 
became unto them that obey him the au- 
thor of eternal salvation. — Hebrews v. 8. 




Noble Life : 
WILLIAM PENN. 


Topic : 
OBEDIENCE. 







Obedience, meaning in general submis- 
sion to authority, is always used in a good 
sense, and has become the great word of 
religion. Virtue is obedience to the will 
of God as revealed in his world and its 
laws. Vice is self-will. Obedience, there- 
fore, implies a certain amount of restraint 
on one's own desires in order that they may 
be brought in accord with the desires of 
other people, the State, or God. Obedience 
recognizes a standard in the world, higher 
than the individual's will. It therefore 
stands in direct opposition to anarchism, 
where the individual desires are supreme. 
But as the outward authorities are many, 
and differ in worth and obligation, we often 
see an apparent conflict of authority, obedi- 
ence, and disobedience in the same act. 

No life is better fitted to show the true 
heart of a high obedience than that of 
William Penn ; and yet, on the face of it, 
it seems rather in many points to illustrate 
the opposite. 

His Life (1644-1718). — He was born at 
Tower Hill, London, Oct. 14, 1644, — the son 
of Admiral Penn, of Cromwell's victorious 
navy, and Margaret Jasper, a wealty Dutch 
lady. William did not inherit the disposi- 
tion of a warrior from his father, nor yet 
the commercial instinct from his mother. 
He was always of studious, sensitive tem- 
perament, conscientious to a degree. At 
the early age of eleven he was molded by a 
strong religious feeling. " While sitting in 
his chamber he was suddenly surprised with 
an inward sense of comfort and happiness 
akin to a strong religious emotion, the cham- 
ber at the same time appeared as if filled 
with a soft and holy light." 

Disobedience at School. — After some 
years of private tutoring for college, Penn 
entered Christ College, Oxford. While 
here Robert Loe, the Quaker, converted 



him and many of his companions to the doc- 
trine of the Friends of Light. He soon 
manifested a spirit of opposition to college 
authority. The formalism of the Estab- 
lished Church aroused his righteous indigna- 
tion. He and a few other students first 
refused to attend chapel and read "book 
prayers ; " and finally, not only refused to 
wear the college gown themselves, but tore 
it off of other students. For this Penn was 
expelled. 

Conflict at Home. — The father of the 
prodigdal did not come out to meet the 
misguided one in the spirit of forgiveness. 
The stern but loving old warrior could not 
understand the singular course of William; 
a stormy interview followed. The father 
finally agreed to forgive him and take him 
back home if he would give up the ideas of 
Quakers ; at least, so far as to take off his 
hat in his own, the king's, and the Duke of 
York's presence. But Quaker William re- 
plied that he was sorry, but conscience would 
allow him to uncover to none but Almighty 
God. So his father sadly turned him away, 
hoping that reflection and hardship would 
bring him back; but this only confirmed 
him in his course, and he became a promi- 
nent Quaker preacher, a worthy follower of 
George Fox. 

In those days dissenters were not allowed 
to preach, and so Penn was soon imprisoned 
and fined because he refused to take off his 
hat in court. To prison he went many times 
because he would preach, he would not take 
off his hat, and he would not take the oath 
of allegiance. But Newgate had no ter- 
rors for him ; it but offered the time for 
him to write pamphlets and letters defending 
the Quakers, and his own course. When 
he was liberated he only had time to hurry 
home and receive his father's dying words : 
" Son William," said he, " if you and your 



OBEDIENCE. 



65 



friends keep on your plain way of preaching 
and also keep to your plain way of living 
you will make an end of priests to the end 
of the world." 

Obedience to the Inner Light. — In 
spite, however, of his infringement of the 
authority of parents, school, and law, his 
was a life of true obedience to the highest. 
He went about America, England, and 
Holland making converts to the simplicity 
of the gospel as the Friends of the Light saw 
it. He used his great influence at court in 
the cause of the weak and persecuted ; and 
finally, he conceived the great project of 
helping those suffering for conscience sake 
to a new country where humanity and re- 
ligious freedom should be corner-stones. 

Penn came to America with a charter 
" to enlarge the empire, convert and civilize 
the savage." Calling all the Indian chiefs 
around him under a great elm-tree at Phila- 
delphia, he made with them the world-famous 
treaty of peace, " never sworn to and never 
broken." He bought over again the land 
James had granted him, from its rightful 
owners this time, and established a colony 
embodying in its government liberty of con- 
science and humane ideas far in advance of 
his time. 

He completely disproved the common jest 
that " the only good Indian is a dead one." 
And the success of his experiment lives to- 
day in the great State of Pennsylvania, 
even as his ideas of liberty were rung forth 
on that historic Fourth of July from Inde- 
pendence Hall in the city of brotherly love. 

Penn spent but a few years in America. 
The people of his heart would not pay their 
quit rent, and so his wood land was never 
profitable to him, though his descendents 
reaped a rich reward. 

The declining years of his life were har- 
assed by troubles in America and persecu- 
tion at home. The white-haired old man, 
for conscience sake, went to prison rather 
than pay an unjust debt. Finally, in 1718, 
after a life of persecution and trouble, he 



died and was buried in the Friends' grave- 
yard at Jourdans. 

Character — We can only speak of this 
in general. Of his failings we can say noth- 
ing except that they leaned to virtue's side. 
For conscience he gave up worldly honor 
and a peerage to become a despised, perse- 
cuted Quaker. He walked for many years 
in a corrupt court, yet always stands un- 
tainted by vice, a pearl among swine, the 
friend of the friendless, the conscience of the 
king. He felt with Luther, "it is not safe 
to go against conscience," and stands for all 
time as the man who never wronged his in- 
ward monitor. 

Sayings — "He that gave us an outward 
luminary for our bodies hath given us an 
inward one for our minds to act by." "I 
know no religion that destroys courtesy, 
civility, and kindness, which rightly under- 
stood are great indications of character." 
" If thou would'st be obeyed being a father, 
being a son be obedient. Happy that king 
who is great in justice and the people who 
are free by obedience." "We are apt to 
love praise but not to deserve it." " God is 
better served in resisting a temptation to 
evil than in many formal prayers." 

Lesson. — The life of William Penn 
shows us that one can obey and disobey at 
the same time. In following his inner light, 
the highest call that can come to any of us, 
he disobeyed parent, State, and school. But 
nowhere is it done in the spirit of dis- 
obedience. It was the call of the higher that 
drew him, not the claims of the lower, which 
he refused. He did not oppose college au- 
thority from hatred, but because his Quaker 
friends had persuaded him that formal 
prayers and surplices were but mock religion. 
He regretted that consistency would not 
allow him to take off his hat in the presence 
of his father. He loved him dearly, but he 
felt that respect and love did not require 
from any one the servile submission of the 
bared head. This to him was akin to wor- 
ship, and God only should be worshipped. 



66 



OBEDIENCE. 



In his conflict with law, it was the arbitrari- its own sake, but the truest obedience to 

ness of the courts he combated. He be- the highest light God had given hiin. He 

lieved it the birthright of a free Englishman learned obedience by the things which he 

to worship God as conscience dictated, and suffered, and like the great apostle, he 

for that right he was willing to suffer. Thus "could not be disobedient to the heavenly 

we find nowhere the spirit of rebellion for vision." 

QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 



Was William Penn wrong in tearing the 
robes off other students and refusing to attend 
chapel exercises ? What should his own prin- 
ciple of freedom to worship have shown him ? 

Is obedience to parents a law for children ? 
What is the first commandment in the Old 
Testament with promise ? 

Should the commandment be modified by 
the unwritten one, Parents, love your children ? 
Was he right in refusing to take off his hat to 



his father 1 Is obedience to laws a duty of 
citizenship ? Should we always obey ? Shall 
we say "My country, right or wrong 1 ? " 

Is their any higher duty than obedience to 
God and conscience ? Is conscience the voice 
of God 1 ? Should other people's consciences 
influence our actions when our own is faint or 
silent ? 

Who had the clearest conscience of any one 
that has lived ? 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



Is not every action in obedience to some- 
thing? Why would he not take the oath of 
allegiance ? Was he a traitor ? Is there any 
necessary connection between wearing a hat 
and the inner light; that is, between the 
Quakers' virtues and narrownesses? As a 
reaction from formalism did the Quakers intro- 
duce another kind of formalism ? 

What was meant by the inner light 1 Did 
you ever feel it? What other rules of con- 



duct beside obedience to conscience are given 
in the world ? By Orthodox Protestants ? 
By Roman Catholics ? By Mohammedans ? 
Members of the Salvation army were arrested 
for street preaching. Have they the spirit of 
obedience in disobedience q 

How do we learn obedience by suffering ? 

What great Quaker has recently died, ana 
what does his life show ? 



TO TEACHERS. 

Consult " William Penn," by George E. Ellis ; Note. — The last is a humorous but a just and 

" History of William Penn," by William appreciative account of the great Quaker's 

Hepworth Dixon; "William Penn," by life. 
Robert Burdett. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 
Walk in the light. — 1 John i. 7. 




Noble Life : 
DEAN STANLEY. 


Topic : 

Open-Mindedness. 







Open-Mindedness seems a very simple 
thing, for what does it mean except willing- 
ness to think of things as they really are ? 
And yet this is so rare a quality that it goes 
far toward making a noble life. Almost 
everybody thinks of things not just as they 
really are. To most people a certain amount 
of what we call "prejudice " impedes every 
thought. A girl who is accustomed to dress 
quite plainly, when she meets another girl 
dressed daintily and tastefully, instead of 
admiring her is apt to say to herself, " What 
a vain creature ! " And so a boy's mind is 
often so blocked up with prejudice that he 
can see no good in anything outside his own 
narrow view. You remember the scene in 
" Tom Brown's Schooldays " where little 
Arthur, going to bed on his first night at 
school, dropped on his knees, as he had done 
every day from his childhood, to " open his 
heart to Him who heareth the cry and bear- 
eth the sorrows of the tender child and the 
strong man in agony," and nearly all the 
boys in the room jeered at him. In their 
dense prejudice they were unwilling to see 
anything but matter for sport. Open- 
mindedness means, then, the capacity to 
look out without prejudice, and so to see 
things as they really are. 

At Rugby. — The boy Arthur, of Tom 
Brown's Schooldays, is said to bear a remark- 
able resemblance to Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, 
whose life is the example chosen for this 
lesson. Arthur Stanley was one of the first 
boys to go to Rugby after the great Dr. 
Arnold took charge of the school, and an 
early illustration of his open-mindedness is 
shown in his immediate appreciation of the 
splendid qualities of his master, at a time 
when Dr. Arnold was publicly abused in 
every way, and even branded as an infidel. 

Dr. Arnold was indeed a noble teacher, 
and the very man to develop the best facul- 



ties in young Arthur Stanley, for one of the 
Doctor's own strongest traits was this same 
open-mindedness. It was this that enabled 
him to see the facts of public education in 
England freed from the prejudice of tradi- 
tion, and so to begin a splendid reform in 
the public schools of the country. In the 
life of Arthur Stanley we can see how the 
quality of open-mindedness, developed and 
cultivated, leads to the highest excellence, 

— to strength, beauty, and noble deeds. 
The quality was early noticeable in 

Arthur Stanley, in the vividness and reality 
with which his boyish mind grasped the 
poetic beauty of the many legends that be- 
longed to the neighborhood of Alderley, in 
Cheshire, where Stanley was born. Before 
he was ten years old he wrote verses com- 
memorating many of these, among others 
the legend of the church bell which is said 
to have fallen into Rostherne Mere, and 
may be heard booming under the water 
when any member of the great neighboring 
families dies. At school the same quality 
was soon apparent in the delight with which 
Stanley revelled in history; he saw the old 
dry facts in the freshness of reality and life, 

— they became as real and exciting as the 
actual events of the day. It was open- 
mindedness that made him sympathetic, 
appreciative, and kindly in his relations to 
other boys. He seemed to realize the tim- 
idity and loneliness of new comers. Tom 
Hughes says that when he first went to 
Rugby, Arthur Stanley was in the sixth form, 
among the head boys in the school, who were 
looked up to with the greatest awe, and even 
fear, by all the little fellows. What was 
Tom's surprise therefore to be immediately 
invited to breakfast by Stanley, and made to 
forget all shyness and reserve in the sym- 
pathetic kindness of his host, who dismissed 
him afterwards with the delightful injunc 



68 



OPEN-MINDEDNESS. 



tion, "Come to me if you get into any 
trouble." 

At Work. — By the time Stanley, after 
passing with high honors through Rugby 
and Oxford, became a Canon in Canterbury 
Cathedral, and later the Dean of West- 
minster Abbey, he was both bitterly envied 
for his success and savagely abused for his 
liberal views. But he firmly held to his 
attitude of open-mindedness through every 
attack. He always stood up for liberality ; 
some one called him " the intolerant apostle 
of tolerance." He became the leader of the 
Broad Church party, and was consequently 
heartily disliked by both the High Church, or 
Ritualists, on one hand, and the Low Church, 
or Evangelicals, on the other. Carlyle said, 
" There goes Stanley, boring holes in the 
bottom of the Church of England." But the 
fact was that, in sympathy with the progres- 
sive intelligence of his age, and believing 
that the worst heresy is want of charity, he 
advanced the freedom, justice, and honor of 
the Church, as long as he lived. The Church 
was always more to him than the highest 
offices within it, and humanity more to him 
than the Church. " There is some one," he 
said, " more likely to be right than the Pope 
of Rome or the General Assembly of the 
Church of England, and that is the whole 
community." 

Stanley's Insight. — At a critical period 
in the history of the Church of England, 
when a violent agitation, brought about by 
the publication of the since celebrated 
" Essays and Reviews," seemed to threaten 
a serious division in the Church, it was 
Stanley who saw the facts just as they were, 
undistorted by any prejudice. He wrote 
of the event afterward : " Great, indeed, 
would have been the calamity to the Church 
and country if the recent agitation had 
stiffled free discussion. There is danger in 
inquiry, but there is still greater danger in 
the suppression of inquiry. There is the 
rashness of the moth that flies into the fire ; 
but there is the rashness no less of the 



horse that is burnt to death because it 
refuses to leave its accustomed stall." 

It was this power to free himself from 
prejudice, this open-mindedness, that gave 
Stanley his great popular influence, and 
upon which rests his fame as a champion of 
religious liberty. 

There are more striking virtues than that 
of being open-minded, — virtues that rouse 
our enthusiasm more ; but there is none that 
more surely leads the way to life's real 
dignity and greatness. Open-mindedness is 
the key to all progress. By disclosing the 
real facts, the unprejudiced truth of things, 
it leads to new discoveries in every realm of 
thought, not only in science and philosophy, 
but in ethics and religion. 

Examples. — It was open-mindedness 
that so quickened the mental vision of 
Columbus as to enable him to see that which 
was not then known, but which to his mind 
must be, — namely, the new world beyond 
the ocean. It was the same quality that led 
Galileo to see the flat earth on which he 
walked floating in the heavens a circling 
globe. It was the same quality that com- 
pelled John Robinson to declare a new reli- 
gious light, not then discovered, should yet 
break forth from the truth already known. 
Paul, the great Christian apostle of pro- 
gress, is a striking example of the noble life 
toward which clear open-mindedness inevi- 
tably leads. By birth and training and 
every surrounding influence he was taught 
to see Christianity through a veil of angry 
prejudice, so that he believed all Christians 
to be fit only for persecution and death ; but 
this quality of willingness to see things, not 
in their disguised conditions, but as they 
really are, enabled him to pierce the veil of 
misconceptions, and to recognize the divine 
truth and power and beauty of the Christian 
faith; and still further, this same quality 
enabled him to overcome the narrow preju- 
dice which confined the glorious gospel to 
the little remnant of the Jewish nation, and 
sent him on his magnificent enterprise of 



OPEN-MINDEDNESS. 



69 



spreading Christianity throughout the world. 
And so with Jesus, the greatest of religious 
reformers, it was this very quality of open- 
nrindedness which gave that marvellous 
power of rescuing the gem of truth from 
its bed of worthless shibboleths and mislead- 
ing superstitions, and of freeing the pure 
spirit from its bondage of inherited tradi- 
tion; it was the same quality which made 
it possible for him to see everywhere the 
good within the evil, so that his love went 
out, not only to the chosen disciples, the 



faithful, and the good, but to the lowest 
sinners, the outcast, and the slave. 

To tell of all that open-mindedness has 
done for humanity would be to trace the 
beginnings of the overthrow of almost every 
wrong. Other qualities are of course essen- 
tial to all noble reformers, — courage and 
faith and enthusiasm ; but open-mindedness 
is the pioneer that recognizes the oppor- 
tunity, and is willing to walk in the new 
light. 



QUESTIONS. 



What simple definition of open-mindedness 
can you give ? 

What is prejudice? Can even children be 
prejudiced ? 

Do you think real open-mindedness a very 
common quality 1 

How did Arthur Stanley, in his school life, 
show this quality ? 

Why did the exercise of this quality cause 
him to be disliked 1 

. What did Stanley declare to be the worst of 
all heresies ? 
Does it seem to you that the general opinion 

TO 

The story of " Tom Brown's Schooldays " will 
be quite helpful in illustrating the open- 
ing thoughts of this lesson, as the influence 
of Dr. Arnold was all toward open-minded- 
ness. 

In speaking of the relation of Stanley to the 
English Church, it would be well to explain 
the distinctive attitude of the three parties, 
Low, High, and Broad. 



of the whole community is more likely to be 
right than the voice of any one man, or any 
one organization 1 

Does free discussion of religious questions 
tend to make people less religious ? 

If Columbus had shared the prejudice com- 
mon to the age in which he lived, how do you 
think it would have changed his life ? 

Is open-mindedness essential to pure Chris- 
tianity 1 

Tell how you think the quality of open- 
mindedness is shown in the life of Jesus. 



If the class is advanced, Stanley's action in 
the celebrated Gorham case, in the Pusey 
and Newman agitation, and in the petition 
to parliament for relief from subscription, 
might well be discussed. 

The illustrations of open-mindedness from the 
life and teachings of Jesus are capable of 
unlimited development. 



TEACHERS. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

I will not fear what man shall do 
unto me. — Hebkews xiii. 6. 




Noble Life ; 
JOHN KNOX. 


Topic : 

INDEPENDENCE. 







"There lies one who never feared the 
face of man." Thus spoke Lord Morton 
when John Knox was buried. The chief 
impression made on us by the life of this 
Scottish preacher and reformer is that of an 
independent character. The trait of inde- 
pendence is well worth considering, not 
only for adoption into our own lives, but 
in order to guard ourselves against the 
errors which may be made in the name of 
independence. 

Early Life. — John Knox was born at 
Haddington, Scotland, 1505, and received a 
good education. There is little of an event- 
ful character to tell about his youth and early 
manhood. Knox did not find scope for his 
power until after he was forty years old. 
Up to that age he was maturing that per- 
sonal will and earnestness which afterward 
stood like a rock. Out of some obscurity 
we glean that he took orders in the Church 
of Rome as a secular priest when about 
twenty-five years old, and continued for ten 
years in that connection. 

A Great Change. — At the age of forty- 
one years Knox became a Protestant, and a 
Puritan Protestant at that ; as such he con- 
tinued to his death. His greatest dangers, 
his most famous acts, his strongest writings, 
were caused by his battle with the repre- 
sentatives of his discarded faith. That 
battle was waged with a fearlessness that 
never flinched, and with a vigilance that 
never slept. 

Captivity, — An immediate result was 
that the forces of the Catholics, having cap- 
tured St. Andrew's Castle, where Knox was, 
sent him and many others into exile and 
servitude. He was treated like a criminal, 
and served in the galleys of France at the 
oar ; in this experience he nearly died. 

Release. — By the efforts of royalty he 
was allowed to go free, and he went at once 



to London. For five years he lived in Eng- 
land, writing and preaching and working 
hard for the "true faith." Of course he 
was in constant controversy, — now defend- 
ing himself against a bishop, now arguing 
with doctors of divinity, now appealing to 
the queen regent. He visited the churches 
of his faith in France and Switzerland, and 
took charge for a short time of an English 
congregation at Frankfort-on-the-Main. A 
busy man, as we see, never willing to let 
matters drift. 

Scotland. — All that we have mentioned, 
though it brings Knox to the age of fifty- 
four years, was only preface; the real story 
of his life begins on the second of May, 1559, 
when he landed at Leith, Scotland, having 
sailed direct from Dieppe, France, because 
the English government would not let him 
pass through England. He went at once to 
Edinburgh. He became a leader ; his bold, 
independent spirit was made at every step 
identical with Scotland's welfare. Knox 
was proclaimed an outlaw and rebel, but 
that had no effect on him. He stirred the 
people to be firm, and led the way. In one 
town he called the Protestants together, and 
declared that he would preach in the cathe- 
dral. To their amazement, he did. When 
the Scottish Parliament assembled, he pre- 
pared petitions and documents. He pre- 
pared plans of church government and 
doctrinal standards that were adopted by 
the Church of Scotland. 

Queen Mary. — This queen, so famous, 
arrived at Edinburgh in the midst of all this 
excitement, and sent at once for Knox to 
report at the palace. The interviews which 
she held have been too highly colored. 
Knox has been called abusive and coarse. 
Probably not ; but no doubt he was blunt 
and exceedingly frank, considering that she 
was queen and he a subject. As Carlyle 



INDEPENDENCE. 



71 



says, "it was unfortunately not possible to 
be polite with the queen of Scotland, unless 
one proved untrue to the nation and cause 
of Scotland." Queen Mary was a Roman 
Catholic ; Scotland was mostly Protestant. 
The queen held several interviews with 
Knox, hoping to make him modify his oppo- 
sition. She failed, though often shedding 
tears and bitterly complaining. Fortunate, 
indeed, that men arise sometimes who can 
confront kings and queens in the name of 
justice and humanity ! " Who are you," 
said the queen once, " that presume to school 
the nobles and sovereign of this realm ? " 
"Madam," replied Knox, "a subject born 
within the same." 

Treason. — Queen Mary failed, by crying 
or threats or flattery, to subdue the reformer ; 
and so she tried another method, and accused 
him of treason. Knox faced the trial boldly, 
and was acquitted. Again he was called 
to stand trial, on account of a sermon in 
which it was charged he had offended the 
king. (Lord Darnley had just married 
Queen Mary). This time Knox was com- 
pelled to absent himself from Edinburgh for 
a short time ; but he spoke elsewhere, and 
wrote diligently. 

Last Years. — This tireless worker main- 
tained his duties, though stricken with severe 
illness, to the last. His cause became better 
situated; and though threatened so often 
with disaster and death, he " ended his days 
in peace and honor." Surrounded by his 
wife and friends, he died in 1572 ; he had 
married twice. It is noticeable that his 
grave, like Calvin's, has no tombstone to 
mark the place of his burial. 

Comments. — The remarkable vein of 
independence exhibited in Knox descended 
to his daughter, as the following anecdote 
proves : Mrs. Welsh, daughter of John 
Knox, had an interview with King James, 
who asked her whose daughter she was. 
She replied, " My father was John Knox." 
"Knox and Welsh," said the king, "Sa- 
tan must have made sic a match as that." 



"Nay," replied Mrs. Welsh, "for we never 
speired (asked) his leave." She then begged 
that her husband might be permitted to re- 
visit Scotland, and the king said, " He shall 
if he submit himself to the bishops ; " upon 
which Mrs. Welsh, holding out her apron, 
said, " Sooner that he should do so, I would 
kep his head there." 

Carlyle praises Knox : " Everlasting honor 
to John Knox, one of the truest of the true ! 
That in the moment while he and his cause, 
amid civil broils, in convulsion and confusion, 
were still but struggling for life, he sent the 
schoolmaster forth to all corners, and said, 
' Let the people be taught,' — this is but one, 
and indeed an inevitable and comparatively 
inconsiderable item in his great message to 
men. This message, in its true compass, was, 
' Let men know that they are men, created 
by God, responsible to God, who work in 
any meanest moment of time what will last 
through eternity.' . . . This great message 
Knox did deliver, with a man's voice and 
strength, and found a people to believe him." 

I. False Ideas. — We are all liable to 
make mistakes and carry independence too 
far. Wordsworth hit the truth when he 
said : " These two things, contradictory 
as they may seem, must go together, — 
manly dependence and manly independence, 
manly reliance and manly self-reliance." 
There are always two poles, of course, in 
every complete carrying out of a truth. 
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- 
herit the earth," is as valuable for youth as 
the counterpart : " Let your light shine 
before all men." The first brings in the 
law of learning, of obedience, which is the 
only way to power of any kind. The meek, 
on the other hand, who do not know when 
to stand firmly for God and right, are sad 
examples of a half-truth narrowness. De- 
pendence on central things, on powers greater 
than ourselves, and independence in matters 
of application and fulfilment. There is, 
however, always a need for warning ; do not 
mistake dogmatism for sincerity, or pride for 



INDEPENDENCE. 



self-respect, or wilfulness for right, or eccen- 
tricity for independence. 

II. The Trait. — Still, after all is said, 
do we not need more healthy independence ? 
In society, see how slavish men and women 
are to fashion and frivolity. How many 
imitators we find, — a surface life caused by 
fear of opinion and gossip. Young people 
need to take clearer views of life, and stand 
by them at any cost. Will you steer or 
drift? By all means have a purpose and 
remain loyal to it. 

III. Christian Character. — Apply all 
this to religion and we see what the lesson 
of the hour is. If there is any trait de- 
manded at this time above all others, to 
bring the Christian Church to greater power 
and usefulness, it is independence. We are 
entangled in errors handed down to us ; we 
must think for ourselves and obey the voice 
of the inward guide. This is true in belief 
and in church life ; it is further true in the 
world of action. The call is on us to show 
the Christ type of life out in the affairs of 
every-day duty. By so doing we may hope 
to do good, and more, — to lift the reproach 
laid on average Christianity, that it is beau- 
tiful and strong in the hour of worship, but 
becomes weak and tarnished when tested 



by the week-day relations. Independence 
springing from faithfulness, — independence 
caused by a high standard, is required of all 
in every branch of the Christian fellowship. 

IV. Scotland. — Among the best prod- 
ucts of Scotland has been her love of in- 
dependence. A ruggedness of spirit has 
marked her children. Strength stamps her 
heroes. The gentle Burns was as strong as 
Knox, not in character, but in the assertion 
of " A man 's a man for a' that." Preacher 
and poet together speak out for the rights 
of man in a noble sense, and they voice 
the spirit of Scottish history. 

V. Puritanism. — This example brings 
up the faith of New England's founders. 
Let us be just. The Puritans were consist- 
ent. They have made it possible for us to 
enjoy liberty and reason and a free church. 
Their motto was • Serve God and fear no 
man. They sowed seed that brought a har- 
vest somewhat different from their inten- 
tions. But independence always produces 
independence. The form may vary, but the 
substance is one; therefore Knox and the 
Puritans opened the way for a free Bible, 
a free belief, and a free worship in the New 
World. 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 

Where is Scotland ? Was John Knox liked afraid ? Why did he work so hard ? Is It 

by all people 1 Why did he have trouble ? right to do as others do, if you know that is 

What is a galley slave 1 ? Did Knox ever talk wrong? What does "independence " mean? 
to a queen ? What did he say ? Was he 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



Can you give the dates of Knox's birth and 
death ? What party did he oppose ? Was he 
late or early in finding his place 1 Can you 
tell anything about Queen Mary ? What are 
the dangers of independence? How do you 



find the life of Jesus as illustrating the lesson ? 
Do you think that the Christian must be yield- 
ing and timid ? Will you express what you 
think about the Puritans ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



Sagaciously supply questions. 
Draw out the scholars on the adjustment of 
meekness and confidence. 



Consult M'Crie's "Life of John Knox," Car- 
lyle's " Heroes and Hero Worship," and 
any standard encyclopaedia. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

If -meat maketh my brother to offend, 
I will eat no flesh while the world 
standeth. — 1 Cor. viii. 13. 




Noble Life : 

Father Iathew. 


Topic : 
TEMPERANCE. 







Theobald Mathew was an Irish priest. 
He was born in 1790, in a great house in 
Tipperary, where his father was the agent of 
a rich Lord. The delight of his childhood 
was in giving little feasts and entertainments 
to his friends. As long as he lived he was 
fond of this pleasure. Indeed, when at the 
very last his physician had forbidden him 
to receive company, he was found by his 
brother giving a dinner to a party of poor 
boys. The one thing that he could never 
bear to witness was cruelty. When a young 
child, he had once seen a poor hare hunted 
to death ; and he never forgot the cruel 
scene. At the age of eleven years he was 
sent to a boarding-school at Kilkenny ; and 
when Christmas came, " Tobey," as they 
called him, was so homesick that he ran 
away, and walked thirty miles across the 
country, and threw himself into his moth- 
er's arms. The mother, who was a pious 
Catholic, wanted her boy to be a priest. 
When he was eighteen years old he went to 
the college at Maynooth. It was a rule that 
no student could enter the room of another. 
One evening Mathew gave a party in his 
room to a number of his fellows, who soon 
became merry and noisy. Young Mathew 
was censured for breaking the rules, and 
left college without completing the course. 
At twenty-three years of age he was or- 
dained, and was known from this time as 
"Father Mathew." After a short time in 
Kilkenny he went to Cork, which was his 
home for the rest of his life. He was not 
thought much of as a scholar, nor at first as 
a preacher ; but he had a warm heart, and 
every one liked him. He lived in small but 
very neat rooms, rose early, worked hard, 
and spent but little for himself ; but he was 
always giving for the sake of the poor, or 
if he had any money left, he was never so 
happy as when he could gather a few friends 



about his table, or collect a company of 
children and take them into the woods for a 
picnic. His favorite texts were, " Blessed 
are the merciful," and " Love one another." 
Thus his life passed till he was forty-seven 
years old. It did not seem as if the world 
would ever hear of Father Mathew. 

The Troubles of Ireland. — For hun- 
dreds of years the Irish people had suffered 
terrible things. Their lands had been seized 
by powerful noblemen, who mostly lived in 
England, spending the money which they 
compelled their > wretched tenants to pay. 
A man's wages fell at times below ten cents 
a day. Millions lived in huts of not more 
than one room, with a mud floor and a leaky 
roof ; their pigs lived as well as the chil- 
dren. Every winter multitudes were pinched 
with hunger ; their one food was potatoes. 
Drunkenness was everywhere. When they 
were happy, men and women drank whiskey ; 
and they drank also to drown their de- 
spair. Fighting and murder went with the 
drunkenness. 

Father Mathew and the Quakers. — 
There was a little band of good Quakers in 
Cork who had started a total abstinence or 
" teetotal " society. One day a Quaker said 
to Father Mathew : " Oh, Theobald Mathew, 
if thee would only give thine aid to the 
cause, what good thee would do for these 
poor creatures ! " . Father Mathew had often 
preached against drunkenness, but without 
effect. Every one knew that he drank him- 
self, although in moderation. When the 
Quakers began to talk to him, he laughed 
pleasantly ; but he thought of what they said. 
At last one day in 1838, as he was kneeling 
in prayer, he made up his mind. He gath- 
ered his friends together, and told them of 
his resolution; and saying, " Here goes in 
the name of God," he signed his name on 
the roll of a new total abstinence society. 



/ 



74 



TEMPERANCE. 



The Temperance Crusade. — Very soon 
every one in Cork had heard of what Father 
Mathew had done. He began at once to 
preach, no longer that men ought not to be 
drunkards, but that they ought not to use what 
would make drunkards. The people of Cork 
had always thought what Father Mathew 
did was right ; they thought so now. In 
three months twenty-five thousand persons 
had taken the pledge. The story of the 
new movement went over Ireland. Father 
Mathew was wanted everywhere. Wher- 
ever he went the people crowded and even 
fought for room to hear him. There were 
pathetic scenes. Women came dragging 
their drunken husbands, and almost forcing 
them to take the pledge. Men knelt in 
companies and repeated the words of the 
pledge together. In Limerick the crowds 
were so dense that it was impossible to enroll 
all the names. More than a hundred thou- 
sand were thought to have taken the pledge 
in four days. It was so at Waterford, May- 
nooth, and Dublin. Men nocked into these 
cities from the surrounding country. In 
Gal way one hundred thousand joined Father 
Mathew's society. As he went from place 
to place his coach was stopped by the 
crowds. It is often said of disease that it is 
catching ; in this case health was catching. 
Indeed, rumors went abroad,, as in the time 
of Jesus, that Father Mathew's blessing 
would cure the sick. Many certainly be- 
lieved themselves cured. Men not only took 
the pledge, but for a time at least they kept 
it with wonderful ease. They helped one 
another to keep it. In many villages the 
saloons were closed. Within five years half 
the people in Ireland had taken the pledge. 
The quantity of liquor used fell off more 
than half; there was a similar decrease in 
all kinds of crime. 

Father Mathew and the Protestants. 
— The people of Ulster, in the North of 
Ireland, are largely Protestants. There 
was a bitter feeling against Catholics. A 
great society of Orangemen helped to keep 



up the enmity. Father Mathew was warned 
not to go into Ulster, lest they should stone 
him. But he loved Protestants as well as 
Catholics; and like all genuine men, he 
could not be frightened. He had not 
been ashamed to walk in the streets of Cork 
arm in arm with a Protestant minister. The 
Orangemen of Ulster received him in the 
same friendly spirit. When he found the 
Orange flag flying at his approach to a town, 
he took it as a compliment, and called for 
three cheers for the flag from his Catholic 
followers Thus he persuaded people who 
had hated each other to unite for the sake 
of the temperance cause. He was likewise 
welcomed in Scotland, and later carried his 
work into England. Here Thomas Carlyle 
saw him. " The very face of him attracts 
you, 1 ' he wrote. He was praised and enter- 
tained, but he was also mobbed and stoned. 
Some called him " an apostle of temperance " 
and "the sinner's friend ; " others said that 
he was nothing but "a Popish priest." 
Many were ready to praise him, but un- 
willing to give anything to help him, or to 
join his movement. Nevertheless, he is said 
to have enrolled half a million teetotalers 
in England. 

The Years of Trouble. — Father Mathew 
had used all that he had in the expenses of 
his work. He had also ventured to borrow 
a good deal of money upon the promise of a 
legacy from a rich woman. This friend 
suddenly died without leaving him a penny ; 
and his creditors arrested him for debt. His 
friends rallied and paid off his debts, but he 
was straitened for money to carry on his 
work all the rest of his life. 

Then came the terrible years of the Irish 
famine. By the failure of the potato crop 
hundreds of thousands died of starvation 
or fever. Multitudes had to leave their 
homes to get the government work; and 
hunger and despair brought a new tempta- 
tion to drink. Father Mathew's heart was 
well-nigh broken with seeing the misery of 
his countrymen. The food was taken from 



TEMPERANCE. 



75 



his own table to feed the hungry. Every 
room in his house would sometimes be filled 
with the poor creatures. After all this 
strain he was stricken with paralysis. 

A Visit to the United States. — As 
soon as Father Mathew had partly recovered 
from his illness he longed to do something 
for his people across the sea. In the year 
1849 he sailed for New York. The mayor 
made him an address of welcome ; and at 
Washington he was honored, like Lafayette, 
by being admitted to the floor of both 
houses of Congress. In spite of his broken 
health, he visited twenty-five States, spoke 
in over three hundred towns and cities, and 
gave the pledge to five hundred thousand 
people. He was able to take by the hand 
and call by name countrymen from every 
part of Ireland. He returned home, how- 
ever, thoroughly exhausted, and soon had 
another stroke of paralysis. But loving 



friends cared for him ; people still came for 
his blessing, or to take the pledge at his 
hands ; his " children " flocked to tell him 
their troubles. He died in 1856, and all the 
people of Cork followed him to his burial. 

The Results of his Life. — It is said 
that seven million people took the pledge of 
total abstinence at Father Mathew's hands. 
But it needed many Father Mathews to 
make all these multitudes keep the pledge, 
and that, too, in the face of temptation or 
despair. Still, it is thought that hundreds of 
thousands never broke it. There is a new 
feeling about temperance in the English- 
speaking world. Drunkenness is now looked 
upon as a disgrace ; total abstinence is 
becoming the habit of increasing numbers. 
To produce this changed feeling, a simple- 
hearted, earnest Irish priest did more than 
any other man. 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 



What can you tell about Father Mathew ? 
How do we know that he had a kind heart ? 
Do you see any cruelty in hunting ? How did 
the Irish people live when Father Mathew 
was a boy ? What was the great fault of the 
people ? What did the good Quakers want 
Father Mathew to do? Tell what a Total Ab- 
stinence Society is. How did Father Mathew 



succeed in persuading his people to give up 
their whiskey ? Tell the story about the Orange 
flag. What can you tell about the famine in 
Ireland? What did Father Mathew do in 
the United States 1 Whom can you think of 
who has helped the world as much as Father 
Mathew ? Did he sign the pledge for his own 
sake or for the sake of his people ? 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



What does Paul mean in the Golden Text 7 
Why could not Father Mathew persuade peo- 
ple to be temperate while he drank wine him- 
self ? Do you think it ever safe for individuals 
to use the alcoholic drinks? If it is safe 
for some, ought these to be asked to give up 
their freedom for the sake of others ? Is it 



well to ask people to sign a "pledge " ? What 
reasons can you give ? Would it be a good 
thing for the world if the American nation 
should altogether disuse the alcoholic drinks ? 
How are you willing to help toward this end i 
What is the true and full meaning of "tem- 
perance " ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



The Encyclopedias and Biographical Diction- 
aries may be consulted for short accounts 
of Father Mathew's life and work. A good 
biography is by Frank J. Mathew, entitled, 



"Father Mathew, his Life and Times," 
Cassell & Co., 223 pp., 1890. A larger and 
earlier work is by J. F. Maguire, M. P., 
1863. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Seek those things which are above. 

Colossians iii. 1. 




Noble Life: 

HAVELOCK. 


Topic: 
AMBITION. 







In 1857, during a rebellion in British 
India, England awoke one morning to find 
a new name on the list of her great military 
heroes. Very few had ever heard of him be- 
fore ; but now, as if by magic, his praise was 
being sounded everywhere, and the world 
knew him as " The Hero of Lucknow." 

The name of this soldier was Henry 
Havelock. 

Boyhood. — Havelock was born in Eng- 
land, 1795, just about the time when Napo- 
leon was running his brilliant career, and all 
Europe was a battle-field. As a boy he was 
rather serious and thoughtful, so that his 
school-fellows used to call him " Old Phlos," 
a nickname for Old Philosopher. And yet 
he loved boyish sports, and never was be- 
hind any of his companions in courage and 
daring. 

One day he came into school with a black 
eye. His teacher asked him how it came 
there. "It came there," was his only an- 
swer. " But how did it come there ? " thun- 
dered the teacher. No reply was given, and 
he submitted to a sound thrashing for his 
silence. Long afterward the truth came out. 
Young Havelock had defended a small boy 
against a big bully of the school, and had 
received a black eye for his interference. 
He took the whipping from his teacher 
rather than betray his schoolmates. 

He was not the first scholar in his class, 
but he was a great reader, and took intense 
delight in stories of war and descriptions of 
battles. 

Napoleon was his hero, and all his move- 
ments Havelock watched with breathless 
interest. He then began to dream of being 
a soldier, too. Thus was born in the boy's 
heart that ambition which afterward lifted 
the man into honor and fame. 

In the Army, — At the age of sixteen 
Havelock began to study law, but he soon 



tired of it, and three years later obtained an 
appointment in the army. He now gave 
himself, with all the love and enthusiasm of 
his nature, to his chosen profession. He 
was to be a soldier; then he would be a 
thorough one, and would understand the art 
of war completely. He studied very hard, 
and it is said that it was his habit to draw 
with a stick upon the ground the plan of 
some historic battle-field, then in imagina- 
tion fight the battle over again, so that he 
might clearly see what made the one side 
lose and the other win. 

Goes to India. — After eight years of 
service in England, he was ordered to go to 
India. There he became a soldier in earnest. 
It would take too long to tell of the battles 
he was in, and of the terrible campaigns in 
which he served. It is enough to say that 
he always followed where duty led, and 
always seemed to know just what to do 
amid the confusion of the battle-field. 

Disappointment. — Promotion in the 
English army was usually obtained by pur- 
chase-money. Thus very meritorious officers 
often were never advanced, simply because 
they were too poor to buy a commission. 
This was the fate of Havelock. It was the 
dream of his life to become a general, but he 
was doomed, year after year, to stand still 
and see untried, beardless men promoted 
above his head. This certainly was hard, 
but he never lost heart, never sulked, never 
neglected any opportunity to serve his gov- 
ernment. His ambition was to do his best ; 
and this he did, whether the world saw and 
applauded or not. 

" Havelock's Saints." — Havelock was 
an intensely religious man. With his sol- 
diers he was a strict disciplinarian even to 
severity, and yet he was always interested 
in their personal welfare, anxious about their 
moral habits, and often prayed with them 



AMBITION. 



77 



and preached to them himself. Like Crom- 
well's Ironsides, they soon became noted for 
sobriety and sturdy morality. Once -when 
the commander-in-chief suddenly called upon 
one of the regiments to carry a certain point, 
many of its members were found to be in- 
toxicated. " Call out Havelock' s saints," he 
cried, " they are always ready." 

Lucknow. — Havelock was sixty-two 
years old, and yet was scarcely known out- 
side of India. Now came the occasion that 
made him famous. All India was in mutiny. 
The native soldiers, mad with power, were 
murdering the English in every city. Far 
up in the interior, at Lucknow, was a garri- 
son of English soldiers, women, and children 
hemmed in by many thousands of these 
yelling, blood-thirsty sepoys. To surrender 
meant a horrible death. To hold the fort 
meant starvation at last, unless rescue should 
speedily come. 

Hundreds of miles away, Havelock under- 
took to save the little garrison. It seemed 
an impossible task, and yet with a few hun- 
dred brave soldiers, in a country swarming 
with the enemy, through swamps, over swol- 
len rivers, and every day a day of bloody 
battle against fearful odds, he fought his 
way to the gates of Lucknow. And then, 
beneath a hail-storm of bullets from every 
housetop, he marched up the narrow street, 
and never paused until he stood within the 
fortress walls and heard the shout of wel- 
come from the lips of starving men and 
women. 

It was a wonderful march, and put him 
among the great soldiers of history. 

Death. — The world soon rang with ap- 
plause of his heroism ; but it was tardy 
praise, — indeed, too late. 

While the queen was making him a bar- 
onet and - Parliament was voting him a 
princely pension, he was dying of a fever 
within the very city he had so bravely 
stormed. 

And so. died a man whose ambition was 
to be a great general, and who in the face 



of obstacles and temptations gained at last 
his end, without ever lowering the standard 
of manhood or spotting the purity of his life. 

What is Ambition? — As we have seen 
in the life of Havelock, ambition is one of 
the great forces of human life. We may 
define it as a strong, fixed desire in the 
heart to get honor or to attain the best 
things. It is a kind of thirst or hunger for 
success that makes men dare danger and 
trial to satisfy it. 

Necessary. — Ambition is to life just 
what steam is to the locomotive. A man is 
of little use in this world unless he have 
ambition to set him in motion. Small talent 
with great ambition often does far more 
than genius without ambition. 

A boy or girl without ambition is idle, 
listless, and content to drift along through 
life, without doing any good or making any 
mark. 

Misdirected Ambition. — Many people 
think that ambition is an evil weed, and 
ought to be pulled up by the roots. Shake- 
speare makes Wolsey say, — 

"I charge thee, fling away ambition; 
By that sin fell the angels." 

But the great cardinal had abused ambition, 
and had changed it into vice. Ambition is 
a noble quality in itself, but like any other 
virtue it may be carried to excess, and thus 
become an evil. Like fire or water, it must be 
controlled to be safe and useful. Napoleon, 
while commanding armies, could not com- 
mand his own ambition ; and so he was 
caged up like a wild beast at St. Helena. 
A millionaire may be so ambitious for 
gain as purposely to wreck the fortunes of 
others. A politician may sell his manhood 
to gratify his desire for office. Boys and 
girls may become so ambitious to win their 
games or to get the prizes at school that 
they are willing to cheat, or take some mean 
advantage. 

Right Ambition. — But one may be 
rightly ambitious in various ways. 



78 



AMBITION. 



I. It is right to be ambitious for fame and 
honor. The love of praise is not bad in 
itself, but it is a very dangerous motive. 
Why ? Because in order to be popular one 
may be tempted to be insincere. Never let 
the world's applause drown the voice of 
conscience. 

II. It is right to be ambitious to improve 
your circumstances. You have no right to 
accept life as you find it, and not try to 
make it any better. It is the duty of every 
one to strive to make his home beautiful, 
and to surround himself with the comforts 
and refinements of life. It is right, there- 
fore, to strive for wealth or for any means 
with which to make life larger, so long as 
you strive in just and honest ways. 

III. It is right to be ambitious to excel in 
whatever you do. Slighted work and half- 
done tasks are sins. " I am as good as they 
are," " I do my work as well as they do," 
are cowardly maxims. Not what others 
have done, but perfection, is the only true 
aim, whether it be in the ball-field or in the 
graver tasks of life. To feel that one has 
done his very best braces the heart in times 
when the world forgets or criticises. 



IV. It is right to be ambitious to help the 
world. This is the highest ambition of all, 
and the best. It includes all the other kinds ; 
for if a man is eager to help the world he 
will be eager also to fit himself to bring that 
help. There is no nobler ambition than just 
this desire to be rich or skilful or learned 
in order to be more useful to our fellow men. 
Every ambition ought to lead up to this at 
last, and everything we say and do should 
in some way increase the worth of human 
life. 

Tests of Ambition. — We ought now 
and then to stop and test our ambition, just 
as the engineer tries the steam in the boiler ; 
if we do not, it may in some unexpected 
moment wreck our lives. There are two 
ways of finding out whether our ambition 
is too strong for safety. First, if we dis- 
cover that ambition is hurting our own 
character, there is danger. If, again, we 
find ambition blinding us to the rights of 
others, it is time to stop. These are the 
two tests ; and so long as your ambition is 
harming neither your own life nor the lives 
of others, it is good and wholesome. 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 



Who was Havelock 1 Where did he live 7 
Tell the story about his black eye. Was he 
right to remain silent? How did he become 



famous 1 What was he ambitious to be 1 
Is ambition always good 1 What is your 
ambition 1 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



How did the English come to rule in India 1 
Are a boy's preferences the best guides in 
choosing a profession 1 Relate some incident 
showing Havelock's interest in military sci- 
ence. Does merit always receive its reward 1 
Describe the siege of Lucknow. How did 
England honor Havelock 1 What is ambi- 



tion 1 Show how it is necessary to progress. 
Examples of harmful ambition. How can a 
virtue become a vice 1 Is there danger in 
striving for applause 1 For riches 1 For know- 
ledge 1 What is the highest ambition 1 What 
are the two tests of a safe ambition ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



For a biography of Havelock, seeE. C. Phillips, 

Marshman, or Headley. 
Show how in Havelock's life ambition was kept 

in check by the sense of duty. 



Emphasize the truth that ambition has a noble 

root in itself. 
The question of excess in the employment of 

our natural gifts is an important one. 
Speak of ambition as illustrated in Jesus' life. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

I love them that love me ; and those 
that seek me early shall find me. 

Proverbs viii. 17. 




Noble Life : 

HUMBOLDT. 


Topic : 

Love of Knowledge. 







The Golden Text of our lesson refers to 
wisdom and understanding. The whole 
chapter from which it is taken ranks high 
in beauty and power of expression. " Whoso 
findeth me findeth life;" "by me princes 
rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the 
earth ; " " I was set up from everlasting, 
from the beginning, or ever the earth was." 

Knowledge and Wisdom. — There is 
a difference between knowledge and wisdom 
and understanding ; but without the first the 
rest cannot be gained, any more than you 
can have a harvest of wheat without seed 
and skill of cultivation. Understanding is 
the right use of facts ; facts make knowledge ; 
knowledge is the root of wisdom. Many 
men know a great deal, but are not wise or 
capable; many others know less, but are 
able to use what they have learned. Wis- 
dom is the ripe fruit of knowledge, know- 
ledge is the beginning of character. So it 
is true as the day that in the search for 
knowledge the promise is binding, " Those 
that seek it early shall find it," and be blest 
with constant gains of truth and power. 

Our Example. — We are to illustrate 
this topic by a brief glance at the life of 
Alexander von Humboldt. His brother, 
Wilhelm, acquired a distinguished name; 
but the greater renown fell to the younger, 
who was born at Berlin, Germany, Sept. 14, 
1769, — his full name being Friedrich Hein- 
rich Alexander von Humboldt. In circum- 
stance of life his lot was easy; his father 
had the means to educate him well. Noth- 
ing very striking of outward event occurred 
in youth. Tutors prepared him for college ; 
his own aim was not at once seized. " Until 
I reached the age of sixteen," he says, " I 
showed little inclination for scientific pur- 
suits. I was of a restless disposition, and 
wished to be a soldier." But another cur- 
rent was flowing in his mind. " From my 



earliest youth I had an intense desire to 
travel in those distant lands which have 
been but rarely visited by Europeans/' And 
again he says : " The study of maps and the 
perusal of books of travel exercised a secret 
fascination over me." These early tastes 
blended at last with a serious purpose, and 
became " the incentive to scientific labor or 
to undertakings of vast import." Pictures 
and maps of southern constellations, of palms 
and cedars of Lebanon, excited his desire to 
travel. 

Knowledge turning to Understand- 
ing. — To show how Humboldt was not a 
mere fact-gatherer we select one incident 
out of many in his early life. When about 
twenty-one years of age he made an extended 
journey with George Forster over the Con- 
tinent. Forster wrote the following after 
they had visited the Cathedral at Cologne. 
After describing the glories of the structure 
he adds : " My attention was arrested by a 
yet more engrossing object : before me stood 
a man of lively imagination and refined taste, 
riveted with admiration to the spot. Oh, 
it was glorious to see in his rapt contem- 
plation the grandeur of the temple repeated 
as it were by reflection ! " In this scene we 
behold the actual process of knowledge being 
changed into true learning and ideas ; it was 
always so with Humboldt in his long and 
varied career. 

Devotion. — He took great risks in order 
to ascertain facts, as all earnest investigators 
do. In testing a new lamp for miners he 
crept into a u cross-cut " of the mine, lamp in 
band, and continued so long and persistently 
that two men rushed in and drew him out 
by the feet, the gases having overcome him. 

South America. — Humboldt studied, 
held official positions, and matured. His 
mother died in 1796; to her this son owed 
much, for the father had died when Alex- 



80 



LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE. 



ander was only ten years old, and she 
watched his education with fidelity. She 
saw the bent of the " little apothecary," — as 
Alexander was called because of his passion 
for collecting and labelling shells, plants, 
and insects, — and guided it. Her death set 
Humboldt free to go afar in travels. In 
June, 1799, he started with Bonpland, a 
dear friend, on five years' absence, in which 
time he climbed Teneriffe and the Cor- 
dilleras, explored the Orinoco, visited the 
United States, and gathered a mass of 
knowledge which afterward won him lasting 
fame. Often he was in peril, often baffled, 
often put to dreary discomforts by savage 
tribes ; but through all ran his unconquer- 
able purpose. Sometimes he was among the 
cannibals of South America, sometimes in 
danger of being eaten by alligators, some- 
times in the midst of earthquakes. 

Bonpland. — This man was a lover of 
knowledge, but he lacked a steady aim in 
life. Humboldt met him, and they became 
ardent friends. Bonpland was noted, the 
friend of Josephine, the ill-starred wife of 
Napoleon; he had every token of growth 
and success, as did Humboldt. But the end 
of his life was in strong contrast to his 
friend's. After returning to Europe he 
grew restless and dissatisfied ; evidently he 
disliked hard work. So he returned to 
South America, got into trouble, was finally 
released after nine years of confinement in 
a village of Uruguay. But he preferred to 
draw his pension from France (granted on 
account of his signal ability in science) and 
live an idle life in that semi-tropical region. 
A noted traveller searched for him many 
years after all Europe had forgotten him, 
and found him living in a hut, meanly con- 
structed, dirty, and wretched in every aspect. 
His wife, a native woman, had deserted him ; 
Bonpland himself was scantily clad ; not a 
knife or fork could be found in the shed to 
help out the eating of some meat placed 
before the visitor. All was sad and full of 
decay. Bonpland inquired for his old friend 



Humboldt. Twenty-three days after that 
visit Bonpland died, unmourned, a wreck on 
the reef of eccentricity. 

A Great Light. — We have not space to 
give details. Humboldt shone with greater 
light from year to year. Honors were lav- 
ished on him. His works aided science, his 
life was a constant inspiration. He lived to 
be ninety years old, — passing on in 1859, — 
with a strong memory, a fund of anecdotes, 
and a tireless love of research. Goethe said 
of him, " Alexander von Humboldt has been 
with me for some hours this morning. What 
an extraordinary man he is 1 He resembles a 
living fountain, whence flow many streams, 
yielding to all comers a quickening and 
refreshing draught." In 1857, two years 
before he died, a Grand Duke of Weimar 
wrote to Humboldt, inviting him to a public 
ceremony, " You are so inseparably con- 
nected with all that is great and noble in 
our country, that I cannot think of engaging 
in this festival without you." 

Traits. — He disliked the court life, though 
he mingled in it ; he loved liberty, though he 
sometimes yielded to his superiors ; he had 
a sturdy sense of the claims of knowledge 
and truth as ranking the appeals of riches, 
notoriety, or pleasure ; he never married; 
his time and thought went out wholly to his 
chosen pursuits. What he accomplished 
was not due simply to his unceasing indus- 
try, though that was marvellous, or to his 
mass of information, though that was won- 
derful, — but to an ideal. His motto was : 
Man must ever strive after all that is good 
and great. He attained his position and 
influence by moral worth, by enthusiasm for 
friends, by kindness of heart, by unselfish 
motives. These noble qualities gave him a 
personality which filled the knowledge he 
possessed with a carrying power. 

Golden Text. — The double truth in this 
sentence is worth considering. Knowledge 
turns into a friend and smiles on those who 
have a real love for it, — every fact leads to 
another fact ; every gain on the ascent opens 



LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE. 



81 



a broader view. The main point is to have 
a genuine zeal for getting knowledge. The 
second truth is equally important ; the time 
to seek for knowledge is in youth, — " early," 
when every faculty is wide awake. 

The Teaching of Jesus. — To know my 
truths, said the Great Teacher, you only 
need to knock, to ask ; it shall be opened 
unto you, — you shall find. "The spirit of 
truth will guide you into all truth." The 
Bible is not difficult to understand if one 
goes to it honestly and earnestly. Around 
us in nature are the doors that easily open 
to our knock. Science is revealing wonders; 
and Lincoln in his log-cabin home, or Gar- 
field in poverty, or Hugh Miller amid obsta- 
cles, can learn the laws and lessons of this 
universe by patient study. 

Dangers. — Do not become a mere dic- 
tionary; do not get knowledge in order to 
crowd down some belief, or argue down 



some opponent ; do not mistake a splinter of 
knowledge for a whole section ; do not make 
judgment too rashly. Love knowledge for 
what it prophesies as well as for what it 
settles. 

Benefits. — By increase of knowledge we 
are broadening life, making comforts, subdu- 
ing the earth, and helping on the kingdom of 
man's better welfare. Knowledge and rev- 
erence, as Tennyson sings, should go together. 
In the study of the Bible, in the work of 
Sunday Schools, in all our progress, let us 
bear in mind what Humbolt showed, — a 
desire to turn criticism and new ideas into 
useful forms. By more knowledge mankind 
shall have more health, more liberty for the 
higher life, more common-sense, more foun- 
dation, more justice, more spirituality. God 
spreads out his lessons everywhere, and he 
who would know the things invisible must 
first learn what the visible expresses. 



QUESTIONS. 



Where and when was Humboldt born ? Did 
he show in youth his great trait? Who was 
his great friend in his travels ? What became 
of this companion ? Can you give the cause 
for the difference in the two ? Can you remem- 
ber Humboldt's motto ? Do we need to study 
the Bible ? What is the difference between 
knowledge and understanding 1 What is the 



great danger in our common-school training ? 
What do you mean by "cramming"? Can 
you mention any other examples of knowledge- 
seekers? Can you quote any passages from 
the Bible about the value of knowledge? 
What is the entire verse that begins, " This is 
life eternal, that they might know — " ? 



TEACHERS. 



TO 

Tell incidents in famous men's lives relating to 
study. 

Show how needful is a knowledge of life's 
laws. 

Point out the unfailing joy through life of such 
a habit. 



Enforce the duty of religious and moral know- 
ledge. 

Consult Bruhns' and Lassell's life of Humboldt, 
or any popular biography. 



8 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

He hath made everything beautiful in 
his time. — Ecc. iii. 11. 




Noble Life : 

Henri Regnault. 


Topic : 
Love of the Beautiful. 







Dr. Hedge said : "The sense of beauty 
is the mainspring of civilization. God im- 
planted the sense of beauty in us to be our 
educator. Through it he says to us perpetu- 
ally, < Come up higher.' " Those who reveal 
or interpret beauty for us are thus our 
teachers and inspirers. Such an interpreter 
was Henri Regnault. He was a man who 
found beauty everywhere, loved it, described 
it gracefully and powerfully, and sought to 
reproduce it in form and color. 

Early Life. — Regnault was born in Paris, 
in 1843. He was the son of one of the most 
distinguished scientists of the time. From 
childhood he wanted to be an artist. He had 
a passionate delight in the sense of sight ; 
and he added to that keen enjoyment a good 
memory, a lively imagination, and great skill 
in drawing, so that he could reproduce what 
he saw with vivacity and truth. 

Regnault had all the advantages of a good 
education, and took his degree, Bachelor of 
Letters, in 1859. Seven years later, after 
two unsuccessful trials, the great merit of 
his painting won for him the prix de Rome. 
The fortunate winner of this prize is en- 
titled to live at the French Academy at 
Rome, and to study there under the best 
masters. He dwells with his comrades in a 
beautiful house with a fine garden ; and his 
life, freed from all material cares, is given 
wholly to art. Here Regnault lived two 
years. He explored every corner of pic- 
turesque Rome; he wandered in the sum- 
mers through beautiful Italy ; he kept his 
eyes wide open, and painted the beauty he 
saw with great skill and rapidity. In 1868 
he went to Spain, and found " the country 
superb, — arid grounds of marvellous form 
and color, a dazzling light, mountain out- 
lines wild and grand, palm-trees, nopals, fig- 
trees." At Granada his enthusiasm was un- 
bounded over the beauty of the Alhambra. 



" How shall we render," he wrote, " the rosy 
light which fills this enchanted palace, and 
the golden reflections in the shadows ? 
There can be nothing more exquisitely 
strange." The next year he crossed to 
Tangiers, and revelled in the African sun- 
shine. Here he built a luxurious studio, and 
settled down to steady work. He found the 
place a paradise. " There are always," he 
wrote, " fine forms, fine tones, interesting 
groups before one's eyes. One cannot open 
the door without seeing pictures ready 
made." 

In War. — The declaration of war be- 
tween France and Germany broke in upon 
this happy life. When it became evident 
that the Germans would besiege Paris, Reg- 
nault hastened home, and enlisted in the 
National Guard. His constitution delighted 
in heat, and his long residence in warm 
climates made him ill-prepared to bear the 
hardships of the terrible campaign that fol- 
lowed; but he performed all his military 
duties, and slept on the frozen ground, ex- 
posed to the icy wind, without flinching. 
He served as a private soldier. He was 
offered an officer's commission, but declined 
it, because he thought his example in the 
ranks might be useful. He said: "You 
have a good common soldier in me ; do not 
spoil him to make a poor officer." On the 
19th of January, 1871, his battalion took 
part in a sortie at Buzenval. Regnault, 
fighting in the front rank, was shot in the 
head, and instantly killed. His life of rich 
gifts, of reputation already fairly won, of 
wonderful promise, was cut short, " sacrificed 
to a hopeless cause, in the last combat of a 
weary war, which from first to last had been 
nothing but discouragement and disaster." 

His Character. — Regnault's patriotism 
was exceptional. As a prix de Rome, he was 
exempt from obligation to serve in the army. 



LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL. 



83 



When the war began, he was absent from 
France ; yet he abandoned his beautiful 
home and the work he loved, and returned 
to Paris, knowing that he must be shut up 
there during the siege, and endure all kinds 
of hardships. More than that, instead of 
avoiding unnecessary risks, he incurred them 
voluntarily, in order that he might keep up 
the courage of his comrades. Finally, no 
man had reason to love life more. He not 
only possessed vigorous manhood, exquisite 
tastes and opportunity to gratify them, but 
he was engaged to be married to a noble 
woman, whom he tenderly loved. His char- 
acter thus illustrates the necessary relation 
between virtue and love of beauty, and the 
connection of both with true happiness. 
Keats said, " Beauty is truth, truth beauty." 
Emerson said that " beauty is the mark God 
sets upon virtue." Partly because of his 
merits as an artist, and partly because of the 
tragic circumstances of his death, the name 
of Henri Regnault is now honored through- 
out France. 

I. Love of the Beautiful. — It is a source 
of happiness. In his brief life Regnault 
had more genuine enjoyment than a score of 
men of duller perceptions. He had culti- 
vated his sense of color and proportion until 
nothing beautiful escaped his eyes. If we 
are to enjoy the beauty about us, there is 
need of similar preparation. What we get 
out of communion with the beauty of Nature 
or art depends largely on what we bring to 
that communion. We must make ourselves 
sensitive to beauty, or else the charms of 
form and color and graceful motion and 
sweet music will be unheeded or unappre- 
ciated. Lowell said : — 

" Thou seest no beauty save thou make it first; 
Man, woman, Nature, each is but a glass 
In which man sees the image of himself." 

II. Training. — We must then train our 
powers of observation. We need to train not 
only our eyes and ears to see and hear all they 
can, but we need also to develop the soul 



which is behind these organs and which 
uses them. We must educate an interpreting 
spirit. We must take beauty into our souls 
and reflect it. 

HI. All-Round Interest. — We need 
to multiply points of contact with beauty. 
A larger knowledge of Nature's ways and 
moods will increase our pleasure and rev- 
erence. A better acquaintance with music 
and art will enlarge our powers of appre- 
ciation. Regnault was more than a painter 
and patriot. He had a nature so richly 
and variously endowed that his sources 
of happiness were numerous. He was an 
all-round athlete, and delighted in bodily 
activity. Travel had broadened his sym- 
pathies, so that nothing was common to 
him. He was interested in science; and 
his acquaintance with flowers and birds 
and rocks added to his enjoyment. His 
knowledge of history enabled him to recog- 
nize the romance as well as the beauty 
of the landscapes he admired. He loved 
music scarcely less than painting, and his 
ear delighted in delicate harmonies, as his 
eye rejoiced in rich colors and the contrasts 
of light and shade. If we would enjoy what 
he enjoyed we must make our natures abun- 
dant. We must ask questions of the bot- 
anists, the archaeologists, the artists, the 
musicians, and seek to understand their in- 
terests. We must not allow our sympathies 
to grow narrow, nor permit our receptive 
natures to become sleepy. At the same time 
let us remember that while some degree of 
knowledge can increase our joy in beauty, it 
is not essential. Science does not make the 
violets spring in the grass, nor the birds 
sing, nor the surf break. If our minds and 
hearts are open and teachable, the influence 
of beauty cannot fail to make a deep and 
happy impression on us. 

IV. Moral Power. — But the power to 
appreciate beauty does not merely increase 
our sources of happiness, — it enlarges our 
moral natures too. Beauty calms our rest- 
lessness and dispels our cares. Go into the 



84 



LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL. 



fields or the woods, spend a summer day by 
the sea or the mountains, and all your little 
perplexities and anxieties vanish. Listen to 
sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty 
jealousies pass away. The beauty of the 
world helps us to seek and find the beauty 
of holiness. 

V. The Beautiful is Religion's Helper. 
— The sense of beauty helps, too, our 
religious life. In the hurry of our every-day 



lives and amid our common temptations it is 
hard to remember God, but in the presence 
of beauty we think of him and worship him. 
Then we discover that man does not live by 
bread alone. Beauty teaches us our need of 
religion and reveals to us the joy of the 
spiritual life. Beauty is the visible presence 
of an invisible one. Through beauty and all 
the marvels of his creation and all the graces 
of life, God seeks to win us to himself. 



QUESTIONS. 



Can you give the facts of Regnault's life? 
How old was he when he died ? What makes 
him a true patriot ? What does the term 
" noblesse oblige " mean 1 Is there a con- 
nection between love of beauty and love of 
virtue ? How can sensitiveness toward beauty 
be acquired 1 Is drawing taught in your 
school 1 Is music ? Are you taught to de- 
scribe what you see ? Can you mention any 



beautiful picture that you are fond of? Any 
landscape ? Any piece of music ? What sen- 
sations do you have when you find beautiful 
flowers, or watch the sea, or the mountains ? 
How can we make our church service or our 
Sunday-School service satisfy the craving for 
the beautiful 1 How does beauty help our 
moral nature 1 How does it help to develop 
spiritual life 7 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. 



For preparation read Emerson's " Nature ; " J. 
F. Clarke's "Self Culture," pp. 113-128;' 
Keats's opening of " Endymion ; " Words- 
worth's " Tintern Abbey." 

Let the children learn by heart such poems as 
Emerson's "Rhodora;" Lowell's " What is 
so Rare as a Day in June 1 " Wordsworth's 
" I wandered lonely ; " or Hymns 194, 200, 
212, 214, in American Unitarian Associa- 
tion's Hymn Book, revised edition. 

Describe the connection between the sense of 
beauty and worship, and consider how we 
can make our church services more beau- 
tiful. 

Describe the influence of beauty. (1) Its 
silence. Except in music and poetry it has 
no articulate voice. It reveals itself, not in 
speech, but in deed. (2) Its secretiveness. 
Beauty " craves no admirers, solicits no 
witnesses, works as cheerily in the wilder- 
ness as in the public haunts." Beauty 



waits not upon man's discovery, but perfects 
itself without the stimulus of recognition. 

Point out that the appreciation of natural 
beauty is largely modern. Landscape paint- 
ing is a modern art. The saints of the 
early Church looked on beauty as a carnal 
vanity. Saint Bernard rode all day by 
Lake Geneva and counted it for piety that 
he never saw it. Calvinism knows nothing 
of beauty. Even in this century Lyman 
Beecher could say of the worship of God 
in beauty, " It is all moonshine, with no 
edification nor sanctity in it, and I despise 
it." Beauty waited to be interpreted by 
our modern Turner, Ruskin, Keats, Emer- 
son, Whittier. 

Yet our sense of beauty is just a growing up to 
the teaching of Christ. He read the flowers 
and the sky. He translated the beauty of 
Nature into parables, and preached the 
sermons of the lilies of the field. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 
God shined in our hearts. — 2 Cor. iv. 6. 




Noble Life: 
GORDON. 


Topic : 
ENTHUSIASM. 







Enthusiasm is life lit up and shining. 
It is the passion of the spirit pushing for- 
ward toward some noble activity. It is one 
of the most powerful forces that go to the 
making of a noble and heroic character. 

In the course of every life there are sure 
to be obstacles and difficulties to be met. 
Prudence hesitates and examines them, in- 
telligence usually suggests some ingenious 
way of getting round them, patience waits, 
and perseverance deliberately goes to work 
to dig under them ; but enthusiasm is the 
quality that boldly faces and leaps lightly 
over them. By the power of enthusiasm 
the most extraordinary undertakings, that 
seemed impossible of accomplishment, have 
been successfully carried out. Enthusiasm 
makes weak men strong, and timid women 
courageous. 

His Example. — We take for our ex- 
ample in this lesson a timid, sensitive child, 
who was very easily frightened but who 
loved all noble things ; and we shall see how 
out of the devoted enthusiasm with which as 
he grew up he ever strove to do the right, 
to support justice, and to establish freedom, 
he faced every imaginable peril fearlessly. 

Charles George Gordon was born in Wool- 
wich, England, Jan. 28, 1833. His father 
was an officer in the Royal artillery. 

At School. — When Charles went to 
school he astonished both his parents and 
teachers by his passionate resentment of 
any injustice. Anything that seemed to him 
unfair cut him to the quick ; he could not 
endure it. He got into many scrapes in 
consequence, — for school discipline in those 
days was severely military, harsh, and often 
unreasonable, while the boys offset it by 
practising innumerable deceptions. But 
Charles would never deceive nor prevari- 
cate, nor be anything but perfectly frank, 
honest, and true. From school he passed to 



the Royal Military Academy, and then, as 
second lieutenant, went to join the regiment 
of engineers to which he was commissioned 
at Chatham. 

Experience in the Field. — In 1855 he 
was in the trenches at Balaklava, plunged 
into the terrible distresses of a starving 
army, badly clothed and miserably sheltered, 
in the middle of a Russian winter. Here he 
learned to endure and to obey, and to 
reckon even life as but a little thing, to be 
risked without a moment's pause at any call 
of duty. At the close of the Crimean War 
Gordon was sent on the expedition that 
mapped out the new boundaries between 
Russia and Turkey, and gathered a wonder- 
ful experience, full of adventure. 

In China. — No sooner is this work done 
than he is sent out to China, and there, at 
the request of the Chinese government, he is 
appointed to a task that no one else has 
been able to accomplish. A tremendous 
civil war is raging, threatening the destruc- 
tion of the Chinese empire. The Chinese 
troops, officered by foreigners, — adventur- 
ers from every land, — are torn by a spirit 
of dissention and mutiny. How to reorgan- 
ize these forces and then with them quell 
the rebellion, — that is the problem Gordon 
undertakes. He is just in his thirtieth year. 
His aim is the highest. Not to gain per- 
sonal distinction, not to seize a fortune from 
the plunder of captured cities, not to make a 
great war that he and his army may be 
covered with glory. All these things are 
beneath him; his purpose is by the speediest 
possible means to restore a proper adminis- 
tration of justice, a spirit of reconciliation, 
and an honorable peace. This noble aim 
gives birth to an irresistible enthusiasm, 
which soon spreads through all his officers 
and men. Everywhere he carries honor, 
justice, mercy. His troops so inspired be- 



86 



ENTHUSIASM. 



come " the ever victorious army," and China 
is restored to peaceful happiness. 

Two Incidents. — The Emperor sends 
him a gift of $20,000, which he promptly 
sends back again. One of his soldiers, who 
deserted and joined the rebels, is wounded 
and taken prisoner in the next day's fight. 
"Take him down to the river, and shoot 
him," orders Gordon ; and then, aside to 
his aide, " See that he is put in my boat, 
and let the doctor attend him." These 
little incidents tell a good deal. Other 
men can fill the showy positions that carry 
large salaries and demand little energy; 
but for tasks that seem impossible, — so 
full of risk and danger, — only a man glow- 
ing with the passion of a splendid enthu- 
siasm will offer himself. That man is 
Gordon, — " inspired with the eternal pur- 
pose of knighthood, to subdue the wicked 
and aid the weak." 

The Soudan. — So he goes to Egypt and 
the Soudan. On what a task; the effort 
to put right this dark land, — land of 
swamps, treachery, and slaves ; of oppres- 
sion, extortion, and poverty ; of mosquitoes, 
miasma, and mirage ! Still the same bound- 
less power of enthusiasm lifts him over every 
danger; and even while death and disease 
carry away almost his entire staff, he shapes 
and moulds into some sense of hopefulness 
and order this most distressful land. 

To stop the barbarities and ravages of the 
soldiery, to unbind the slave, to lighten the 
fearful load of human misery, to put honesty 
and justice into the government, — for these 
things he willingly offered himself " a living 
sacrifice." For glory, for reward, for favors, 
for plunder, he had no ambition ; but to lead 
the march of humanity into the wilderness, — 
for that he had a sacred enthusiasm. The 
Egyptian government offered him $50,000, 
and wished him, under the title of " Governor 
General of the Equator," to proceed with 
elaborate and dilatory dignity ; but he would 
only accept his necessary expenses, — not a 
fourth part of the sum offered, — and trav- 



elled so rapidly from station to station on a 
swift dromedary that the native Pachas 
cried to each other, " The telegraph has 
come." It has been truly said that Gordon's 
work, while governor of the Soudan, has 
never been paralleled in history. It is hard 
to realize the immensity of the undertaking, 
— the deadly climate, the frightful surround- 
ings of savagery. It was the inspiration 
of his own fearless enthusiasm that alone 
made it possible for him to effect the won- 
ders of reform which restored peace, confi- 
dence, and a large measure of happiness to 
the unfortunate inhabitants. " Gordon is 
coming" was a cry that inspired activity 
everywhere. 

His Motto. — His motto was, " With the 
help of God I will hold the balance level." 
When the khedive abdicated, Gordon re- 
turned to England, very much broken in 
health. He had already done more than 
enough to earn complete rest; but there 
came suddenly a call from China, — the 
country he had once before rescued from 
revolution. This time China was on the 
verge of war with Russia, and the Emperor 
sent hastily for Gordon, — the only man 
whose enthusiasm could quicken the army 
into victorious energy. Gordon went in- 
stantly, without one thought for himself ; 
but he would not encourage war ; he effected 
a reconciliation among the opposed counsel- 
lors of the Emperor, and brought about 
peace with honor. 

His Last Effort. — But the greatest act 
of Gordon's heroic life was his last. At the 
urgent request of the British government he 
volunteered to return to the Soudan in order 
to rescue the garrisons of Europeans and 
Egyptians, besides many merchants and 
their families, of all nationalities, — some 
30,000 people altogether, — who were in 
great peril, surrounded by hordes of armed 
Arabs. Gordon's marvellous efforts here 
read like scenes from the Arabian Nights. 
But we can only speak of the sublime height 
to which his great enthusiasm lifted his own 



ENTHUSIASM. 



87 



life. Always he had tried to direct men's 
thoughts to honor instead of honors, to 
honesty instead of diplomacy, to faith instead 
of fame; to truth, simplicity, and justice, 
instead of intrigue, luxury, and power, — 
and yet it is as the result of just these very 
wrongs — the disasters, born of jealousy, dis- 
trust, and petty intrigue — that his life was 
allowed at last to be sacrificed. Steadfast 
to the end, in starvation and lonely agony, 
betrayed by treacherous sentries on a moon- 
less night, he was murdered at his post. " I 

QUES 

How does enthusiasm meet difficulties ? 

Could a timid boy or a delicate girl be 
changed by the power of enthusiasm ? 

Was Gordon a rough boy ? 

Toward what sort of things was he most 
sensitive ? 

Were his school scrapes such as most boys 
get into? 

To what profession was he educated ? 
Did he follow it in the usual way ? 
What experiences widened his sympathies ? 
What to him were the things most worth 
working for? 

What was the " ever-victorious army " ? 
Tell the incident of the deserter. 



am quite happy," he writes in the diary 
which was afterward recovered, "though 
the sand in the hour-glass is very low. 
There is not fifteen days' food in the whole 
town. Good-by. I have tried to do my 
duty." 

The enthusiasm that inspired such a life 
as this, leading the timid child to a daring 
manhood, and the brave man to the glory 
of an ideal heroism, is worth seeking. To 
find it is to find that God shineth in our 
hearts. 

IONS. 

Describe the Soudan. 

How did he travel about there ? 

What was the real purpose of his mission to 
the Soudan, as he conceived it ? 

What was the motto he gave himself? 

Why did the Emperor of China so urgently 
seek Gordon's services ? 

What was his last and greatest task ? 

Why did he fail in it ? 

Name the special evils of government and 
society which Gordon so strongly condemned. 

What were his last recorded words ? 

How, then, does God really shine in our 
hearts ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



References : " Colonel Gordon in Central 
Africa," by Mr. Birkbeck Hill ; " Chinese 
Gordon," by Archibald Forbes; "General 



Gordon," by Colonel Sir W. F. Butler; 
"The Journals of Major-General Gordon at 
Khartoum," London, 1885. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Be subject one to another, and be 
clothed with humility, for God giveth 
grace to the humble. — 1 Peter v. 5. 




Noble Life : 
BARON BUNSEN. 


Topic : 
HUMILITY. 







It requires a sound moral judgment to 
strike the right balance between humility 
and self-reliance, and between meekness and 
self-respect. The true man is both meek 
and self-reliant, humble and yet capable of 
self-assertion. True respect for self is at 
the basis of any genuine meekness, as a real 
humility must be in every right expression 
of self-reliance. The really strong man is 
the most thoroughly gentle of men, and the 
genuinely self-confident man is the one who 
is most truly humble in his regard for the 
rights and interests of others. 

Phillips Brooks. — The great bishop was 
physically and mentally strong, possessed of 
a great personality that compelled him to 
self-assertion, and was self-reliant as were 
few men of his time. He followed his own 
convictions in the face of much opposition, 
bravely, unflinchingly. With all his liber- 
ality and self-confidence, he was gentle, 
tolerant, sympathetic, and thoroughly appre- 
ciative of the rights of others. He asserted 
himself, — made himself felt every where ; yet 
he never indulged in controversy, and never 
struck back when criticised. He used his 
strength for the good of the weak; he 
asserted himself in a meek and humble 
spirit. The story of his caring for a poor 
woman's children while she went out for 
needed recreation, shows that in the great- 
ness of his manhood he could stoop to the 
lowliest tasks. 

The two Sides of Jesus' Character. — 
In the gospels we have what appear to be 
two entirely different representations of the 
character of Jesus. We have him as the 
one who drives out the money-changers, 
who sets defiance to the Jewish law and 
ritual, and who claims for himself more than 
kingly power. On the other hand, we have 
the Jesus who calls himself "meek and 
lowly," the friend and companion of the 



poor, who says the meek shall inherit the 
earth, and who teaches the most thorough 
self-abnegation in his law of non-resistance. 
This antagonism may be owing, in some de- 
gree, to the desire of the gospel writers to 
emphasize those qualities in the character 
of Jesus which they thought to be of most 
importance; but the real reconciliation lies 
in the fact that self-assertion and meekness 
may go together in the same person, blend- 
ing with each other in such a way as to 
render the possessor great in the highest 
sense. Jesus was meek and lowly ; but he 
was not weak or a coward or incapable of 
great actions. Jesus was the greatest of all 
egotists; and yet he had nothing of the self- 
assertion of the tyrant, nothing of the intol- 
erance of genius. In him self-reliance and 
humility blended into the greatness of a 
perfect character. 

Not Uriah Heep. — True humility never 
appears in the form of an Uriah Heep. It 
is not cowardly, cringing, or abjectly humble. 
It is strength putting itself by the side of 
weakness through sympathy, and not weak- 
ness abasing itself in the presence of that 
which it pretends is greater than itself. 
The humble man is the man who feels his 
own imperfection, and therefore does not 
condemn another. It was humility which 
made Bunyan say of a criminal who was 
carried by to execution : "There goes John 
Bunyan but for the grace of God." It was 
humility which made Saint Paul call him- 
self the greatest of sinners; but many who 
apply his words to themselves are very far 
from being of a meek and lowly spirit. 
The truly humble say very little about their 
humility, except in rare moments of great 
contrition or deep self-revealing. 

Baron Bunsen. — At the end of the 
biography of Baron Bunsen his wife tells us 
that alike in Germany, Italy, and England, 



HUMILITY. 



89 



— the three countries in which he lived at 
different periods of his active career, — " he 
attracted all with whom he came into con- 
tact by his sympathy and benevolence, by 
the brilliancy of his wonderful mind, not less 
than by the depth of his genuine humility." 
When at the height of his power and 
influence he described the purpose of his 
whole life in a letter to one of his sons : 
" For me, God ordained from earliest child- 
hood a rigorous training, through poverty 
and distress; I was compelled to fight my 
way through the world, bearing nothing with 
me but my own inward consciousness and 
the firm determination to live for my ideal 
aim, disregarding all else as insignificant." 
This man, who had to fight his way into 
place and recognition, kept always a child- 
like simplicity and humbleness. One of his 
sons described his character when he wrote 
of him : " Nothing could be more mild and 
heavenly than his spirit all the day, — open, 
bright, and generous to all whom he met." 

His Career. — Bunsen was born in Wal- 
dech, in 1791, of humble parents, studied at 
Gdttingen, became secretary of Niebuhr, the 
Prussian minister at the Papal Court in 
Rome, succeeded Niebuhr as minister, in 
1839 became Prussian ambassador in Swit- 
zerland, and in 1841 was appointed to the 
same office in England, which he held until 
1854, when he became a private resident at 
Heidelberg and Bonn until his death in 
1860. Bunsen labored zealously in Rome to 
secure harmony between Catholics and Prot- 
estants in Prussia, but was deserted by the 
Prussian king and ministry, and was obliged 
to leave Rome with his work a failure. 
Throughout his career he was balked by 
narrow-minded men, who understood not his 
eagerness for truth, combined with a wide 
and generous tolerance. He labored all his 
life for broad and liberal measures in Church 
and State, was defied by Prussian leaders, 
but bore all meekly and in a generous spirit. 
As a diplomatist his aims were for a united 
Germany, representative government, and a 



liberal and spiritual Protestantism. His re- 
ligious attitude was that of Arnold, Stanley, 
and Robertson. He wrote several books in 
advocacy of his ideas, the best known of 
which is his "God in History," the last 
volumes of which are. called " Egypt's Place 
in Universal History." His views are most 
clearly presented in his " Outlines of the 
Philosophy of Universal History as applied 
to Language and Religion." 

Personal Influence. — Bunsen was one 
of the best known and most popular men of 
his day. His attitude was that of a learner, 
a seeker, and an earnest student. His love 
won him friends, and his sympathy kept 
them. He was a man of earnest opinions, 
progressive and even radical, and he spoke 
plainly what he thought ; but his manner 
was so kindly, his aims so generous, his 
spirit so catholic, he lost few real friends. 
Diplomatists did not like him, for he was too 
open-minded and liberal ; politicians did 
not admire him, for he was sincere, honest, 
and just. Sincere and honest men every- 
where and in all walks of life admired, 
reverenced, and loved him. 

Bunsen's Humility. — Toward the end 
of his life Bunsen wrote : " Never in my life 
have I felt more conscious of the divine 
support and blessing ; and I hope that con- 
sciousness will keep me in humility as in 
faith." Later on he said: "To express 
my serious conviction I have considered 
throughout life as my duty, even before 
kings and princes. If I am misconstrued, 
I must bear it ; T am prepared to endure 
the consequences." Here we see the two 
sides of Bunsen's nature, — his humility and 
his fidelity to duty. They grow from the 
same roots. 

Other Examples. — All really great men 
have been humble men in spirit and temper. 
Such was Lincoln ; such was Washington. 
Izaak Walton relates how George Herbert 
helped a poor man whose horse had fallen 
under his load, laying off his coat for that 
purpose, aiding him to unload, and then 



90 



HUMILITY. 



again to load his cart. When his friends 
rebuked Herbert for this service he said 
that " the thought of what he had done 
would prove music to him at midnight, for 
he felt bound, so far as was in his power, to 
practise that for which he prayed." It was 
said by Saint Francis of Assisi that " In 
the loss of dignity, in the absence of praise, 
in humble subjection, there is great profit to 
the soul." His humility appeared when he 
said: " What a man is in the eyes of God, 
so much he is and no more." 

An instance often cited, but always beau- 
tiful, is that of Sir Philip Sydney when 
mortally wounded at Zutphen, as described 
by an old writer : " Being thirsty with an 
excess of bleeding, he called for drink, 
which was presently brought him ; but as he 
was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw 
a poor soldier carried along, who had eaten 
his last at the same feast, ghastly casting up 



his eyes at the bottle ; which Sir Philip per- 
ceiving, took it from his head before he 
drank, and delivered it to the poor man 
with these words : 4 Thy necessity is yet 
greater than mine.' " 

The Law of Humility. — That law is 
sincerity in doing one's best for the sake of 
others, preferring them to self. The method 
is, "in honor preferring one another," and 
" Condescend to men of low estate." Sin- 
cerity and lowliness of spirit have been often 
commended, as when the Pythian Apollo 
rebuked the pompous sacrifice offered at his 
shrine by a rich Magnesian, and said that 
he preferred the simple cake and frankin- 
cense of a pious Achaean which was offered 
in humbleness of heart. Jesus commended 
the two mites of the widow who gave sin- 
cerely all that she could as being more noble 
than the ostentatious giving of the rich. 



QUESTIONS FOR 

What are the relations of humility and self- 
respect ? In how far and when is self-abnega- 
tion to be commended ? Can self-sacrifice be 
carried too far? Can we accept self-reliance 
as taught by Emerson? Is self-assertion ne- 



OLDER PUPILS. 

ce«sary to the man who is to do great things 
for the world in invention, discovery, or politi- 
cal freedom ? In reality, does the meek man 
inherit the earth 1 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 



Can you give any instances of humility ? 
What did Jesus say about meekness? Tell 
any story you remember in which he praises 
humility. What did Saint Francis do for 



animals ? Ought you to turn the other cheek 
to the boy who strikes you? Can you be 
good to those who hate and injure you? 



TO TEACHERS. 



In the "Memoirs of Baron Bunsen," by his 
wife, and in the " Life and Letters of Baron- 
ess Bunsen," by A. J. C. Hare, will be 
found two very interesting and instructive 



biographies. In teaching the lesson, it 
should be clearly pointed out how false 
differs from true humility, and in how far 
meekness is limited by true self -respect. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Wait on the Lord : Be of good courage. 

Psalm xxvii. 14. 




Noble Life : 

Elisha Kent Kane. 


Topic : 

COURAGE. 







For those young people who desire to be 
stirred by heroic plans and daring acts there 
is nothing more satisfying than to read the 
chief books which tell the dramatic history 
of Arctic voyages. Among the names of 
the leaders are Sir John Franklin. Hayes, 
Schwartka, Admiral Wilkes, Greely, and 
Kane. 

Birth and Youth. — Elisha Kent Kane 
was born on the third of February, 1820, in 
Philadelphia. He was the eldest of seven 
children. At an early age his spirit of fair 
play and self-reliance was shown in many 
ways. At school, for instance, his younger 
brother, under his care, was ordered up for 
punishment by the master. Elisha thought 
the affair unjust, and spoke up, saying, "Do 
not whip him, he is such a little fellow; 
whip me instead." This was intended in the 
right spirit ; but the teacher took the wrong 
meaning, and said he would whip them both. 
Elisha's mood changed from petition to defi- 
ance, and the threatened discipline was not 
exactly carried out. 

Crisis. — It was in his eighteenth year, 
when his collegiate studies were at an end, 
that he fell dangerously ill. The doctors 
told him that if he threw off the paroxysms 
that came he might live a month, or perhaps 
half a year, but that he might be struck 
down in half an hour. After he had recov- 
ered somewhat, one of his doctors told him 
that any wrong movement might prove fatal, 
owing to the heart disease which had fas- 
tened upon him : " You may fall as suddenly 
as from a musket shot." 

Now, let the reader imagine this state of 
things, which was to pursue Dr. Kane all his 
life ; yet what a stirring and dangerous life 
he afterward led ! There was nothing in 
the medical science to help him ; he was left 
to his own choice of action. Sitting in the 
house was as dangerous as going out ; so he 



decided that from that time on he would go 
forward without the slightest hesitation, do- 
ing what he wanted to do ; and we know 
what was the result. 

During all the years that followed it was 
of frequent occurrence that he was carried 
home as though for the last time, or was 
propped up with pillows in order to breathe, 
or he was stopped by what appeared to be 
fatal illness over and over; yet he always 
returned to his official duties and scientific 
pursuits with renewed hope and strength. 
Surely this is a great instance of the power 
of mind over body, of courage over fear, and 
of a noble purpose over circumstances. 

In Maturity. — He finally found himself 
attached to the navy of the United States. 
He made voyages to various parts of the 
world, and in every case pushed his inquiries 
forward to obtain knowledge and equip him- 
self. In a remote island he made an almost 
reckless descent into an extinct volcano, but 
found sulphurous vapors and scalding ashes, 
which nearly ended his career then and 
there. He was drawn out by ropes, and 
brought up some fine specimens. 

In another instance, in Egypt, he under- 
took to decipher something on a gigantic 
statue, but worked his way alone into a posi- 
tion where he could not get free, backward 
or forward. The inscription he was after he 
succeeded in reading ; but it required skilful 
help, brought from a distance, to get him 
down from the projecting stone, where death 
seemed impending. We do not cite these 
instances to commend recklessness, — simply 
to show that Dr. Kane was always forgetting 
himself in the pursuit of information. 

In Mexico, Kane (then surgeon) inter- 
posed to save some prisoners of war at the 
risk of his life, and was terribly wounded. 
The government took notice of his deed in 
a vote of appreciation. 



92 



COURAGE. 



Arctic Expeditions. — But the time 
had come for a larger public fame. Sir John 
Franklin made four voyages to the polar 
regions, and on the last was lost. His ships, 
the " Erebus " and the " Terror," were seen 
by a whaler on the 26th of July, 1845, and 
they have not been seen since. Sir John 
Franklin not returning, and no tidings be- 
ing received, the British and American gov- 
ernments sent expeditions to find the lost 
voyagers. 

Among the first expeditions was one in 
which Kane went as senior medical officer 
under Lieutenant De Haven. De Haven 
had never heard of Kane, and when he saw 
him he confessed that he did not believe he 
was fit to go. Kane was of slight figure, 
and was sea-sick for the first twenty or 
thirty days. About that time the expedi- 
tion touched at an island on the Greenland 
coast, and De Haven wanted to have Kane 
go back home; but Kane replied, "I won't 
do it." A fortnight afterward this slender 
man was ready for the hardest duty, and dur- 
ing all the voyage seemed the busiest and most 
efficient man on board. As we know, this 
search for Sir John Franklin was in vain ; 
but many valuable discoveries were made. 

A second expedition was formed, with 
Dr. Kane in chief charge. This is what he 
said : " The object of my journey is the 
search after Sir John Franklin. Neither 
science nor the vainglory of attaining the 
far-reached North shall divert me from this 
one conscientious aim." It was an expedi- 
tion of great peril, in which Dr. Kane cov- 
ered himself again with the glory of true 
valor, foresight, and noble leadership. Many 
criticisms have been made upon Arctic 
explorations, but the results make a grand 
library of useful knowledge. Geography, 
geology, meteorology, have gained by these 
undertakings. But we select in our lesson 
this fact for attention, — that out of those wild 
and perilous explorations a character like 
Dr. Kane's stands forth for our admiration, 
— not only that, but for our help. 



Kane's Heroism. — Amid the romance 
and fascinating story of Kane's exciting 
experience stands foremost the fact of his 
brave conduct of affairs. We have not 
space to narrate his perils of icebergs, his 
drifting away on floes, his prompt handling 
of mutiny, starvation, freezing, conflicts with 
bears, loss of boats, terrible cold, and 
treacherous currents. These hardships and 
kindred sufferings did not daunt him. His 
heroic spirit cheered the officers and crews, 
and kept hope burning in every breast. 

Return. — He returned, welcomed by the 
praise of this country and the Old World. 
His books, prepared from copious notes, 
were universally read. During all the 
rigorous, perilous experience in the Arctic 
region he fought his unrelenting disease, and 
constantly kept it at bay; but at last his 
vitality commenced to decline. He decided 
to go to Havana. There he gradually grew 
weaker, and died on the 16th of February, 
1857. This seems a short life, only thirty- 
seven years ; but even from our slight out- 
line any one can easily see that he had 
accomplished a vast deal in that time. 

Traits. — Dr. Kane was asked once, 
" What is the most awful thing that you 
ever experienced ? " His face took a devo- 
tionally deep expression, and he answered, 
" The silence of the Arctic night." 

He had great faith in humanity, as was 
shown in one of many incidents. A friend 
was patting a dog after he had been abusing 
some of the culprits of humankind, and Kane 
said, " I like your kindness to dogs, - — I have 
that feeling myself ; but I never saw a man 
who was not higher than a dog." 

His religious nature was very strong. He 
believed, to use his own words, in the " pres- 
ent control of a Supreme Agency." In 
many ways he resembled General Gordon, the 
hero of African adventures. Every morn- 
ing and evening in the stern Arctic region 
he held daily prayers, all hands gathering 
round in a circle and standing uncovered. 

The three rules that Kane established on 



COURAGE. 



93 



his second expedition were very direct and 
easily understood : first, implicit and unvary- 
ing obedience to orders ; second, entire absti- 
nence from intoxicating liquors ; third, daily 
and devout worship of God in all circum- 
stances. The kind of courage which he 
manifested was made up of the highest 
qualities that give strength to both mind 
and body. 

Applications. — We see in this example 
that genuine courage is based on something 
more than animal strength; and this holds 
true always. Coward hearts are often 
encased in giant frames. Slender women 
often display astounding bravery. When 
General Jackson was a judge, and held court 
in the Western settlements, a desperado 
came into the court-room, and defied judge 
and all present. Jackson ordered him 
removed; no one dared to approach him. 
Jackson said to the sheriff, "Call me; this 
court is adjourned for five minutes." He 
went directly to the ruffian, ordered him to 
drop his weapons and surrender. After a 
moment's hesitation the order was obeyed. 
The man said afterward, " There was some- 
thing in the judge's eye that overpowered 
me." 

Cultivation. — James Freeman Clarke 
gives these directions for the cultivation of 
courage : " First, stand firm on some con- 
scientious principle, some law of duty. Next, 
be faithful to truth and right on small occa- 

QUES 

Can you tell anything about Sir John 
Franklin ? Do you think we have gained 
anything by the twenty-five or thirty Arctic 
expeditions ? What was Dr. Kane's character 
as a boy ? What do you consider the key to 
his career ? Was it one trait or several equally 
strong that made him famous ? Is there any 
American living now who is famous as an 
explorer toward the North Pole? What do 
some writers say about an open polar sea 1 ? 

TO TE 

Consult Elder's Life of Kane, and James 
Freeman Clarke's essay ' How to educate 
Courage " in " Self-Culture." 



sions and common events. Third, trust in 
God for help and power." 

The Genuine Type. — It is not rash, 
not vain, not spasmodic, not selfish. Often 
does true courage lead us to appear cow- 
ardly ; as frequently does cowardice put on 
the guise of boldness. We need to know 
the individual and the circumstances to 
judge correctly. The following points are 
worthy of consideration : 1 . To be free 
from false fear, children should not be 
frightened and taught lies with regard to 
darkness and night and the strange events 
of life. 2. Young people ought to be led to 
see that conscience and truth are the best 
friends we can have as against the world's 
misunderstanding. 3. We should discourage 
the tendency to exalt brute force and mere 
muscle to high admiration, and enforce the 
power of mind, ideas, and lofty ambition. 
4. He helps on progress who teaches by pre- 
cept and example that the noblest phase of 
courage and heroism is in the submission of 
this might to the laws of right and helpful- 
ness. 5. The grandest illustration is in 
Christianity. On the pages of the Gospels 
or in the record of Saint Paul's fearless 
course we see an intelligent and unflinching 
courage exhibited. The words of Jesus 
sound forth : Be of good cheer; I have 
overcome the world of tears and trials and 
fear. 

IONS. 

Did not religion appear to Dr. Kane as a very 
important source of courage 1 ? What are the 
three rules given by James Freeman Clarke ? 
What is the difference between rashness and 
courage ? Between moral courage and physi- 
cal courage ? What grade of courage do you 
ascribe to a prize-fighter ? What is the Christ 
standard of heroism ? Is there any example of 
courage you can cite from our civil war ? Or 
from your friends ? 

CHERS. 

Use incidents and sayings from Saint Paul to 
illustrate Christian heroism. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget 
not all his benefits. — Psalm ciii. 2. 




Noble Life : 

Theodore Parker. 


Topic : 
GRATITUDE. 







We all know what the feeling of gratitude 
is. We have said " Thank you " a great 
many times, and have often felt really grate- 
ful in our hearts for gifts and favors received. 
But we are too apt to forget that we have 
any one to thank for the most important 
benefits of our lives. When we stop to think 
we see that what we have done or can do 
for ourselves is very little indeed in com- 
parison with what has been done for us. 

Gratitude to Parents. — How much we 
owe to our parents ! What other creature in 
the world is so helpless as the human infant ? 
Leave a little baby to take care of itself, 
and how long do you suppose it would live ? 
How many of us would be alive to-day, if in 
our earliest years we had not been provided 
for and watched over with tender care? 
But the outward benefits for which children 
have to thank their parents are of less value 
than the lessons of truth and goodness which 
are never so well taught as by the lips of a 
faithful and devoted father or mother. 

To these lessons the greatest and best men 
generally look back with the deepest grati- 
tude. When Theodore Parker, the great 
preacher and reformer, was dying in Italy, 
his mind was filled with thankful recollec- 
tions of the humble home of his childhood 
in far-off New England, and especially of 
the mother to whose watchful love he owed 
the best part of his early training. It was 
then that he recorded the well-known inci- 
dent of the sudden impulse which prevented 
him, when a little boy, from striking a spotted 
tortoise which caught his eye as he walked 
along the road, and the lesson in conscience 
as the voice of God which he learned at that 
time from his mother. 

How much Mr. Parker felt indebted to 
this early lesson may be seen from the fact 
that he said, " I am sure no event in my 
life has made so deep and lasting an im- 



pression on me." But his gratitude did not 
stop with his parents, it went still further 
back. 

Indebtedness to the Past. — How de- 
pendent we are on what our grandfathers 
and more remote ancestors have done for 
us may be shown by this story : — 

A little girl about to throw a peach-stone 
away, instead of planting it in obedience to 
her first impulse, — because, as she said, "I 
might be dead before the tree was big enough 
to bear peaches," — was stopped by her grand- 
father. " Was that a good peacli 1 " he asked. 
"Splendid one, grandpa." "A good many 
years ago, little girl, my father was a boy ; 
and standing right here on this very farm, ate 
a fine peach. 'I will plant this stone/ lie said, 
' instead of throwing it away.' So he planted 
it, and to-day the little girl he never saw eats 
of its fruit. Those tall elm trees by the gate, 
which make such a pleasant shade for us, he 
planted and watched for years. I don't be- 
lieve he ever said, ' I won't water these slender 
little trees any more, for I shall be dead before 
they are big enough to keep off the sun.'" 
The sticky little hand opened, two great blue 
eyes looked curiously at the stone, and pres- 
ently, without a word, it was buried in the 
ground and carefully covered up. 

Theodore Parker's grandfather may not 
have planted peach-stones, but he was one 
of the foremost of those who planted our 
liberties and gave us our beloved country. 
He commanded the little company of seventy 
men who offered the first organized opposi- 
tion to the British, at Lexington, in 1775. 
This was the order which he gave as the 
nine hundred British soldiers drew near: 
"Don't fire unless fired upon; but if they 
mean to have a war, let it begin here." It 
did begin there, and Captain Parker took 
from a grenadier of the forty-third regiment 
the first king's arm captured in the Revolu- 
tion. Theodore's feeling of gratitude to his 



GRATITUDE. 



95 



grandfather is indicated by the care with 
which he preserved this weapon ; it stood 
by the door of his study in Boston till, after 
his death, it was given to the State of Massa- 
chusetts, and now hangs in the State House. 

Gratitude to Jesus. — But we have to 
thank the true and brave of past genera- 
tions for things of even greater value than 
our country, dear and precious as that is. 
We owe to them most of our moral advance- 
ment and nearly all that is best in our laws, 
our civilization, and our religion. What 
would the world have been without the 
teachings and example of the wise and good 
of former days ? What would it have been, 
above all, without Jesus of Nazareth and 
the light and truth that have come through 
him? Few, if any, have felt this indebted- 
ness more deeply than Theodore Parker. 
The name of Jesus never failed to kindle 
his enthusiasm. " That mightiest heart that 
ever beat," he said, " stirred by the Spirit 
of God, — how it wrought in his bosom ! 
What words of comfort, counsel, admonition, 
promise, hope, did he pour out, — words that 
stir the soul as summer dews call up the faint 
and sickly grass." Hymn No. 369 in the 
Revised Unitarian Hymn Book was written 
by Mr. Parker, — originally in the form of 
-a sonnet, — and is another expression of his 
love and gratitude to Jesus. 

Gratitude to God. — All other forms of 
gratitude should serve to prepare the way 
for the highest and noblest form of all, — 
gratitude to God. On him we depend at 
every moment. He brings forth the fruits 
of the earth and gives us our daily bread. 
" In him we live and move and have our 
being." And as the so-called artificial light, 
with which we drive out the darkness from 
our streets and houses at night, is all derived 
from the sunlight which was poured upon 
the earth ages ago, so the human love and 
care by which we have benefited are all 
derived from the great love which he who is 
love has poured into human hearts. As 
soon as we recognize God as the true Source 



whence all our blessings flow, how can we 
help feeling thankful to him ? Yet even in 
our churches there is often far too little of 
the spirit of thankfulness. An English 
writer says that in most public prayers, 
whether printed or extempore, there are ten 
petitions for one thanksgiving. It would 
not be so if Parker's example could be fol- 
lowed. His prayers were so full of grati- 
tude that there was often little or no room 
for anything else; and this was because 
they came out of the abundance of a deeply 
grateful heart. One of his constant hear- 
ers said : " More than half the time, in 
his prayer, I could see the tears run down 
his face before he was done." Some one 
once asked him, " Is it not sometimes a bur- 
den to the preacher to go through the devo- 
tional exercises of the Sunday ? " " Never 
to me," was the reply; ''the natural attitude 
of my mind has always been prayerful. A 
snatch of such feeling passes through me 
as I walk in the streets or engage in any 
work. I sing prayers when I loiter in the 
woods or travel the quiet road ; these founts 
of communion, which lie so deep, seem al- 
ways bubbling to the surface, and the utter- 
ance of a prayer is, at any time, as simple as 
breathing." 

Ways of Showing Gratitude. — There 
are two principal ways in which we may 
manifest gratitude : — 

1. In words. It is pleasant to those who 
do us favors to know that we appreciate 
their kindness, and we should never fail to 
tell them so. This is often all the return 
that they expect or ask ; besides it is good 
for us. We strengthen our feelings by giv- 
ing them suitable expression. Loveless at 
last is the home in which no word of love 
is ever heard. This is the chief reason for 
putting our thanks to God into verbal form. 
He knows what is in our hearts better than 
we do ourselves ; he does not need our words 
to tell him. But it increases our sense of 
what we owe to him if we try to express it, 
either aloud or silently, in definite language. 



96 



GRATITUDE. 



The main value of public thanksgiving, as 
in our church services, arises from the fact 
that thankfulness, like other emotions, is 
contagious. The grateful feeling to which 
one gives utterance kindles the same feeling 
in those who hear. 

2. In deeds. If we are really grateful we 
are not satisfied with simply saying, " Thank 
you," to those who have been kind to us, 
even when we know this is all they expect. 
We wish to render them some service in 
return. In the case of our parents, as long 
as they are with us, we can best do this by 
doing cheerfully what they ask us to do, by 
thoughtfully anticipating their wishes, and 
trying to be as pure and good as we know 
they want us to be. 

In the case of those who are no longer on 
the earth, we can show our gratitude by 
passing on to some one else the kindness 
which we have received. " Inasmuch as ye 
have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me," 
said Jesus. 

Here, again, it would be hard to find 
a better example than Theodore Parker. 
" From his eighteenth year," says his biog- 
rapher, " there was never a time when he was 
not giving to some young person the means 



for education. The president of Harvard 
College had a standing request to let him 
know of any deserving youth whom a little 
money would help." When the slave- 
hunters were seeking their prey in Boston, 
— having, under the protection of the infa- 
mous Fugitive Slave Law, the city police and 
the forces of the State and National Govern- 
ments on their side, — Mr. Parker concealed 
Ellen Craft, an escaped slave, for several 
days in his house, and made preparations 
to defend her, if necessary, with his life. 

Gratitude to God is best manifested by an 
earnest effort to do the divine will, and of 
this Mr. Parker's whole life may be re- 
garded as an illustration. Born at Lexing- 
ton, Aug. 24, 1810, he was distinguished as 
a boy for his thirst for knowledge, love of 
fun, and conscientiousness. At the age of 
seventeen, he began teaching school in order 
to procure the means of getting a higher 
education. Graduating from the Divinity 
School of Harvard University, he became, 
in 1837, minister of the Unitarian Church 
at West Roxbury. In 1846 he was installed 
as minister of a new church in Boston, — the 
" Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society." 
He died in Italy, in 1860. 



QUESTIONS. 



What are the principal facts in Parker's 
life ? Can any one tell the story of the tor- 
toise ? Why should we be grateful to our 
parents? Name some of the blessings for 
which we are indebted to the past. What are 



the chief grounds of thankfulness to Jesus? 
Of what use has the Christian Church been to 
the world 1 In what sense can we say that all 
our blessings are from God ? What is the best 
way to show gratitude to him ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



For Parker's biography consult the " Life and 
Correspondence of Theodore Parker," by 
John Weiss, and the shorter "Life," by 
O. B. Frothingham. For his own account 
of his boyhood, including the story of the 
tortoise, see Weiss, vol. i. pp. 24-26. 
See also the sermon on " Communion with 
God," in Parker's "Ten Sermons," and 
especially the volume of his " Prayers." 



Lecky's "History of European Morals," vol. 
ii., gives many illustrations of the bene- 
ficial effects of Christianity in early days. 
How ancient sunbeams were buried, and so 
stored up for future use, is described in 
Fiske's " Cosmic Philosophy," vol. ii. pp. 
408-410. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

To the pure all things are pure. 

Titus i. 15. 




Noble Life: 

JOAN OF ARC. 


Topic : 

PURITY. 







Who was Joan of Arc? (also called 
Jeanne d' Arc, Maid of Orleans). — A peas- 
ant girl of Domremy (Church of St. Remy), 
born about 1412. The place where she lived 
was five leagues from Vancouleur. There 
she was a shepherdess with a family of 
several brothers who roamed the fields with 
her. She was a young dreamer, breaking off 
her dreams to play under the sacred beech- 
tree, — the fairies' tree which stood in the 
village of Domremy. She played the game 
of the fairies in the month of May, and hung 
her garlands and votive offerings because the 
others did so, but her devotion was to the 
religion of her people, the religion of the 
Catholic Church. 

She is represented as tall, strong, and well 
formed, of plain but beautiful face, in which 
the beauty was of earnest expression, was 
much given to meditation, and while roaming 
the fields early began to hear the "holy 
voices," which she believed to be the voices 
of Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine, and 
finally the command of Saint Michael, " Be 
wise ; be good ; put your trust in God, for 
you must go into France." Long afterward 
her standard-bearer, John D'Aulon, spoke of 
her as " of most pure and good life, and the 
most devout woman he had ever known." 

The Mission of Joan. — Her dreams of 
the glory of France were mixed up in her 
mind with the glory which was attributed to 
the rightful monarch of France, Charles VIL, 
a glory of character and kingly dignity to 
which Charles was in- no sense entitled. 
Her " voices," as she called them, had urged 
her to go to the king and ask for certain 
men-at-arms, that she might raise the siege 
at Orleans, which was now beleaguered by 
thy English army. It was an extremely 
difficult thing for a young peasant girl to 
gain access to the king, who was in another 
part of France, at a town called Chinon ; but 



she was fortunate enough to make her uncle, 
who lived at Vancouleur, believe in her mis- 
sion, and also to get the aid of John Denietz 
and certain other notables devoted to the 
cause of Charles. At last, after many re- 
pulses and much delay, she was admitted to 
the presence of Charles, who was naturally 
as skeptical of her promise to relieve the 
siege of Orleans as he was loath to move 
to the aid of France, out of his love for 
pleasure and the allurements and tempta- 
tions of his evil advisers. 

Test. — Yolande, the mother of Charles's 
wife, from first to last espoused the cause of 
Joan. Men believed at that time in sorcery 
and witchcraft as much as they believed in 
God, and they were at much more pains to 
examine into the risks that might attend 
upon a witch's lead than they were to under- 
stand what the will of God was. Joan was 
therefore sent to the theologians of Poitiers, 
who by the " test of the stole " and many 
theological questions became convinced that 
this was no sorceress, but a woman of pure 
intention and noble patriotism, however im- 
possible it might be for her to relieve the 
beleaguered city of Orleans. 

So from the very first the purity of Joan 
was vindicated before the most suspicious ; 
they had discovered she was not in league 
with the Devil, for the Devil would make 
no compact with a pure virgin. Her pu- 
rity was the first victory over opposition 
in the long series of victories she was to 
win. " The wisdom which is from above is 
first pure." 

Coronation. — The siege of Orleans, the 
key to southern France, after deeds of unex- 
ampled heroism, was raised May 8, 1429 ; 
and the standard of Joan was borne before 
her on her return to Charles, to whom she 
now announced her determination to see 
him crowned at Reimes with the sacred oil. 



93 



PURITY. 



Never was king so unwilling to be crowned. 
By sheer persistence, by pleading the direct 
will of Heaven revealed unto her, Joan was 
able at last to drag Charles to Reimes, saw 
the sacred oil anoint him (without which no 
king in France was really thought to be 
king), saw her own standard set among the 
standards of the coronation. 

This ardent and courageous maiden did not 
remain idle because her king was idle, but 
spent her time among the poor, visiting the 
sick and praying with the dying. 

Taken Prisoner. — The conviction grew 
upon the mind of Joan that she would be 
taken prisoner or else slain in the attempt to 
relieve Compiegne, in which she was nobly 
seconded by D'Aulon, her standard-bearer, 
and by Purthon. She was taken prisoner, 
being shut in the retreat before the attack 
of the French, and left with a few faithful 
followers outside the walls of Compiegne. 
She was set upon from all sides; her fol- 
lowers were killed or made prisoners, and 
from a dozen nobles of the Burgundian 
troops was heard the cry, " Yield to me ; 
pledge your faith to me ! " each eager to be 
the captor of so noble a prisoner ; to which 
she replied, "I have sworn and given my 
faith to another than you, and I will keep 
my oath." Suddenly from behind a soldier 
pulled her from the saddle ; and she then 
yielded herself to Lionel of Vendome, her 
faithful standard-bearer being already a 
prisoner. 

Rejoicing. — Monstrelet, the French 
chronicler, who was attached to the cause of 
Burgundy, says, " The English were rejoiced, 
and more pleased than if they had taken 
five hundred combatants. They dreaded no 
soldier or captain so much as they had here- 
tofore feared the Maid. One would have 
thought all France was won." The same 
joy seems to have been felt by the Duke of 
Bedford, the English regent, for he caused 
Te Deums to be sung in all the churches of 
Paris. On the same day the priests at Tours, 
with bare heads and naked feet, carried the 



sacred relics through the streets in proces- 
sion, and chanted the Miserere. The char- 
acter of Charles, which had been always 
bad, now shows at its blackest, for he seemed 
more relieved than grieved to think that Joan 
was a prisoner in the hands of his enemies. 
He offered no ransom nor exchange of pris- 
oners, nor in any way communicated with 
the captors of Joan. 

The Fate of Joan. — It was necessary 
for Bedford and Cardinal Beaufort to free 
themselves from the charge of murder upon 
which they had determined in the case of 
Joan; they therefore agreed with the Duke 
of Luxembourg, her captor, to buy Joan 
from the Burgundian army for ten thousand 
livres. This they did in order that they 
might hand her over for the church to try 
upon charges not political, namely, for sor- 
cery or witchcraft or heresy or some other 
thing for which the Roman Catholic Church 
could put an end to her life. 

Treachery. — A fit instrument for her per- 
secution, which they called her prosecution, 
was found in Cauchon, a disgraced Bishop 
of Beauvais. He was promised the vacant 
bishopric of Rouen if he would undertake 
the trial of Joan as sorceress and heretic. 

On the 3d of January, 1431, this infamous 
man undertook to break down the courage, 
the purity, and the life of Joan. For thi 
purpose he sent priest Nicholas L'Oiseleur 
who, disguised as a layman and pretendin 
to be a prisoner from the army of Charle 
induced her in the prison to tell the whol 
story of her heavenly leading. This she di 
without reserve. 

He then confessed to her that he was 
priest; and to make her testimony unim 
peachable against herself admitted her t 
the confessional, in which she told all he 
story again. This is the same priest Nich 
las who, when Joan was on her way to th 
execution, dashed through the crowd an 
flung himself at her feet, and plead wi 
her for forgiveness, that he had been th 
instrument of her destruction. 



PURITY. 



99 



The Trial. — Learned doctors from Paris, 
church ecclesiastics to the number of forty 
or more, assembled for the trial of this simple 
peasant girl upon questions of theology and 
religion. The purity of her heart is to be 
seen in the sincerity of her demeanor. 

Cauchon discovered that so long as her 
trial was public he could not depend upon 
his own mercenaries to resist the impression 
made by her character. He therefore an- 
nounced that the trial would be in the prison, 
and before a few chosen from the assembly, 
and the result of their inquiries would be 
submitted to the others. 

The Close. — Meantime Joan had fallen 
desperately ill. Her strong constitution, that 
had been compacted by her out-door life and 
constant activity, did not allow her the re- 
lease of natural death. As soon as she recov- 
ered she was condemned to be burned. 

She had already mounted the scaffold, and 
the sermon against her assumed crimes had 
been preached in the presence of the leaders 
of the English, Burgundians, and people of 
Rouen, when her courage seemed to give way, 
and confused by the questions and demands 
made upon her, she made what seemed to be 
a recantation, — she denied her " voices " 
and acknowledged the Church as supreme 
guide. She imagined that she could make 

QUES 

How did Joan illustrate the saying of Jesus, 
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God " ? How did Joan illustrate that say- 
ing of the Scriptures that "to the pure all 
things are pure " 1 How did Joan show pure 
courage ? How did she show pure patriotism 1 
Why did she assume the dress and then the 
armor of a man? Did King Charles prove a 
friend to Joan of Arc ? What were the " holy 
voices " ? Did this noble woman have a fair 
trial ? Can you mention any women of our 
times who have been brave and pure in war 

TO TE 

Teachers may consult with advantage, "Jeanne 
d'Arc a Domremy," by Luce ; " Joan of Arc 
and Times of Charles VII. " by Mrs. Bray ; 



her appeal to the Pope and the Church 
Universal, as she said. 

She was taken back to the same prison 
from which she came, suffered unspeakable 
indignities, and finally having resumed her 
faith in her " voices," which had really never 
deserted her, she was again brought to the 
scene of execution on the ground that she 
was a relapsed penitent. 

Martyrdom. — The scene of the burning 
of Joan of Arc is one of the most dramatic 
and terrible in the history of the crimes per- 
petrated by religion for political ends. The 
English soldier who had vowed that he would 
cast the first brand upon the pile which 
burned her, fainted in the act of carrying 
out his threat, and declared that he had seen 
a supernatural vision, " a dove flying from 
her bosom toward heaven." 

An eminent French ecclesiastic declares, 
" Thus perished Joan, a maiden admirable 
and astonishing, who rescued the royalty of 
France upon the verge of ruin, and who in- 
flicted upon the English defeats both numer- 
ous and disastrous, and who while a warrior 
chief was able amid thousands of soldiers to 
guard her purity without spot." " To the 
pure all things are pure" (Titus i. 15). 
" As many as are led by the spirit of God, 
they are the sons of God " (Rom. viii. 14). 

IONS. 

times ? Do you think that Joan of Arc, if she 
lived to-day, would be a warrior to show her 
patriotism ? What is the meaning of the say- 
ing, " We find what we look for " ? What is 
the great lesson to us out of this Life 1 Does 
the habit tend to increase rapidly, of thinking 
evil and badness of others 1 How far ought 
we to permit persons to use improper language 
in our presence 1 Can a tongue be pure that 
utters gossip or profane words ? What are 
some of the ways in which a pure soul may 
learn what is the will of God 1 

CHERS. 

"Joan of Arc," by De Quincy; "Jeanne 
d'Arc," by Lamartine. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant. — Matt. xxv. 21. 




Noble Life : 
MARY L. WARE. 


Topic : 

FAITHFULNESS. 







We choose Mary L. Ware as an eminent 
example of faithfulness. Her life was un- 
eventful, excepting in the Osmotherly epi- 
sode, but it was one of the richest of lives in 
personal goodness and well-doing to others. 

Her Childhood. — Mary Lovell Pickard 
was an only child. She was born in Boston, 
on the 2d of October, 1798. "As a child 
her prompt obedience made her very dear to 
her parents." But that even thus early she 
was sifted by trial is proved by her speak- 
ing of "her trials of temper as very great;" 
and that she was not found wanting, by some 
one writing of her, " When I first remember 
her it is as a gentle, loving, active child, 
always doing some little useful thing, and 
the darling of her parents' hearts." What 
a tribute to them as well as to her, show- 
ing that an only child is not necessarily 
spoiled by over-indulgence ! 

Her Girlhood. — At the age of thirteen 
" she was remarkable for her disinterested- 
ness and forgetfulness of self. . . . Her 
chief object, even when a young girl, seemed 
to be to do good in some way or other to 
her fellow-beings ; and she considered noth- 
ing too difficult for her to undertake, if it 
could benefit another person, either in a 
temporal or a moral view. . . . Yet with all 
this devotedness to the highest objects and 
purposes of our existence, she was one of 
the most lively and playful among her com- 
panions, and a great favorite with them all." 
At school she was exemplary in faithful 
preparation of lessons and uniform accu- 
racy; but she was especially distinguished 
for moral excellence. " No one ever exerted 
a better influence upon any school." 

Devotion to her Parents. — At the 
age of thirteen she was called to minister at 
her mother's dying bed, esteeming it not a 
task but a privilege ; and when this ministry 
closed she was left the sole comfort and 



chief companion of her father ; and to this 
duty was added the necessity of bringing 
comfort to her venerable grandparents. 

She was early religious. In 1817 Mary 
Pickard writes: "I trust I may be good, 
though never great. ... I am convinced 
that it (religion) is the only sure guide to 
happiness even in this world; how much 
more in another ! . . . Tell me if the 
confiding spirit which our sacred religion 
creates in our soul is not worth all we 
could possess besides." We are told in her 
Memoir that " Dr. Channing talked with 
her on religious experience, to learn as well 
as to teach. I have known him to request 
her to make visits of instruction to a dis- 
consolate person whom he could not awaken 
to religious hope, — trusting that her gentle 
sympathy and clear views might shed a ray 
of light that would point her to the day. 
o . , Most earnestly does she exhort her son 
not to let anything tempt him ' to treat 
sacred things with levity and disrespect.' " 

The Mystery of Death. — In the midst 
of this steady faithfulness to daily duty she 
had to contend, as we all do, with occasional 
depression and sinking of heart from a 
doubt of doing all she might, and with the 
natural fear and anxiety in meeting the vis- 
itation of illness to those dearest to her, and 
facing with them the mystery of death. 
Especially was her fortitude tried in con- 
nection with her grandmother's death. She 
writes, Sunday night, October 12, 1817 : "I 
have lived for the last few months in the 
hourly contemplation of a most striking 
picture of the end of human life, the ter- 
mination of all its joys and sorrows, the 
annihilation of its hopes and wishes. This 
could not fail to impress with sadness a 
mind in full possession of its powers of 
enjoyment, and for a time to give it almost 
a disgust of all those pleasures and pursuits 



FAITHFULNESS. 



101 



which must so soon fail before the dim eye 
and feeble energies of approaching age. It 
had, in a great degree, this effect on me; 
for the moments have been when I would 
willingly have surrendered life rather than 
live in the expectation of such an end, — 
to outlive the ability to engage in its duties. 
I now tremble at the thought of ever having 
suffered such feelings for a moment to 
possess my mind. Continued and deep 
reflection on the object of all this, the com- 
parative nothingness of everything in this 
world, the hopes and prospects of another 
and better .... have overcome this melan- 
choly." " Six years after her grandmother's 
death, in 1823, her father died, leaving her 
without one near relative or proper home. 
In 1824 one of the noblest friends that Mary 
or any one ever had, describes her as at 
this time 1 worn to the bone ' with care and 
trial ; and then breaks forth in praise of her 
in unmeasured terms, adding : ' Yet with all 
this superiority where is the other being on 
whom any poor fool can repose with such 
trust and confidence as on her ? My mean- 
est thought is not checked in the utterance, 
because her mind is so flexible it stoops to 
the lowest. I am only afraid of adoring 
her, so I may as well hold my peace.' This 
was said in earnest, and is one of many 
expressions of admiration and affection 
called out by her departure for England." 

Osmotherly. — "Mary Pickard is now 
among her kindred, those relatives of her 
father's whom she had so long desired to 
know, and whom she hoped in some way to 
benefit. It is in reference to Chatham that 
she says, ' I am fated to find trouble wher- 
ever I go,' — which is true of all who are 
willing to take trouble that they may relieve 
others." But the supreme scenes of suffering 
through which this servant of God was to 
pass were met in Osmotherly, the residence 
of her aunt, her father's only sister. She 
writes : " I find that I could not have come 
at a better time to do good, or a worse for 
gaining spirits. . . . Everything around me is 



sad and sorrowful, and nothing but the effort 
which it is absolutely necessary for me to 
make to cheer and assist others, gives me 
the least pleasure. ... It seems to me 
that posts of difficulty are my appointed lot 
and my element, for I do feel lighter and 
happier when I have difficulties to over- 
come. Could you look in upon me, you 
would think it was impossible that I could 
be even tolerably comfortable ; and yet I am 
cheerful, and get on as easily as possible, 
and am in truth happy. ... I could not re- 
gret what I have done [in coming]. I could 
almost say, as Mr. Thacher once said, ' I 
had better live a shorter life, and a useful 
one.' " She writes, " I shall find full em- 
ployment for my fingers in making my poor 
aunt as comfortable as I wish to leave her." 
But in fact she used her hands, her feet, her 
steady head, and her warm, faithful heart 
amidst woful scenes of. suffering. Her 
cousin's husband died; soon after her arrival, 
her cousin's brother, who was insane, was 
obliged to be removed ; her cousin's infant 
died in her arms. This was followed by the 
death of three others. The burden of care 
and anxiety came on the stranger, Mary 
Pickard, for there was almost a panic from 
the epidemic in the village. Her own words 
come to mind as we think of these startling 
experiences, " I never say anything is impos- 
sible." What need she had to bear this in 
mind, as she nursed for eleven days and 
watched seven entire nights with probably 
the thought, " What will become of all if I 
break down ! " No wonder that one wrote 
to her, " You have earned the privilege of 
being an instrument, in the hands of the 
All-powerful, of good to every being you 
come in contact with." . . . Another friend 
wrote of her, "I may at some future time 
give you a faint idea of the interest she 
has excited for everything that lives and 
breathes her atmosphere." Her aunt wrote 
of her, " All we have to do is to rely on that 
God who orders all things for the best, and 
to whom I constantly and ardently pray that 



102 



FAITHFULNESS. 



he would spare and reward our and his own 
Mary. . . . She is so excellent, and so truly 
set in the midst of difficulties, that it some- 
times appears to me as if she had been 
graciously lent to us for our guide to that 
heaven which we all pretend to seek." 

Her Marriage. — Mary L. Pickard was 
married to Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., the 11th 
of June, 1827. Mary took the place not 
only of a wife, but of a step-mother. " She 
was the nearest and dearest to him" she 
would say of the first wife ; " how, then, can 
I do otherwise than love her and cherish her 
memory ? " "And her children she received 
as a precious legacy ; they were to her from 
the first moment like her own ; neither she 
nor they knew any distinction." Somewhere 
we are told that the son had imbibed the 
prejudice against step-mothers. But it took 
but few minutes of her presence for the boy 
to be in her lap. And her death called 
forth, in the simple words of one, the unut- 
terable sentiment of both : " Surely God 



never gave a boy such a mother, or a man 
such a friend." " It was one of her prin- 
ciples, and a fixed habit, to anticipate all 
probable, even possible events, ... to 
strengthen her mind for the duties and 
emergencies to which she might be called. 
She was often hurried, but the throng of 
cares and conflict of duties seldom worried 
her. The dignity of her hospitality was not 
impaired, even when the ease and cheerful- 
ness of the conversation became the only 
feast." She carried her religion into daily 
life. In 1.849 she died. Some one said to 
another, in tears, " How much stronger she 
is than we are!" "I am so much nearer 
the Source of strength," she whispered. 
We may regret that she had so much sick- 
ness and trial, that wealth was not hers to 
nobly use, that her faithful life was often so 
hurried ; but these regrets vanish as we 
think of her own words, "It has been a 
beautiful experience ; I have been so happy, 
— no one can tell how happy." 



QUESTIONS. 



Who was Mary L. Ware ? What was she 
as a child ? What as a school-girl 1 How 
early was she called to stand by the sick and 
dying ? What did she think of religion ? 
What did she do in Osmotherly 1 Whom did 
she marry ? What is a step-mother ? What 
sort of a step-mother did Mary Ware make ? 
What noble remark did her step-son make 
about her ? What schools do you go to 1 How 



many kinds of schools are there ? Besides day 
schools and Sunday Schools, is there not the 
greatest school of all, — the School of Life, — 
in which grown people as well as children are 
scholars ? What is your duty as a scholar ? 
Answer : To learn lessons. Right ; but to do 
more, — to be polite, to be attentive, to be true. 
Yes ; and in Sunday School too. 



TO TEACHERS. 



You can consult for your own good, as well as 
your scholars', "Memoir of Mary L. Ware," 
" Life of Rev. Henry Ware, Jr.," and Rev. 
J. W. Ware's book on " Home." 



Try to stimulate a profound interest in this 
noble character, — one of our own house- 
hold of faith. Teach your scholars to learn 
by heart her noble words, " I never say any- 
thing is impossible." 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
obtain mercy. — Matt. v. 7. 




Noble Life : 

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 


Topic : 
MERCY. 







The Beginning. — In the year 1802, a 
little girl child was born in the town of 
Hampden, Maine, as the State is now called. 
At that time, however, Maine had not yet 
been set off, but was still a part of Mas- 
sachusetts. Now, if babies were ever in the 
habit of distressing themselves over the 
unknown future before them, this especial 
little baby would have had occasion to cry 
her eyes out. But she did nothing of the 
kind. She simply spent her time nursing, 
crowing, and sleeping, thus showing what a 
very wise baby she was. Later on in life, 
after she had grown up and come to know 
many happy families, she would often ex- 
claim in pain, " I never knew childhood ! " 
This was sadly true. Her father was a 
roving " ne'er-do-weel," sometimes intemper- 
ate, and sometimes half crazy with religious 
fanaticism, while her mother was a shiftless 
woman of no force of character. So by the 
time Dorothy, as she was then called, was 
seven years old, she had grown to be a pre- 
mature, care-worn little child-mother to her 
two younger brothers. Kept at all kinds 
of menial tasks, her out-reaching and ambi- 
tious heart was breaking at her inability to 
get an education. So at the age of fourteen 
she ran away to Worcester, Mass., where, 
partly to learn, partly to teach, she set up a 
sort of infant school. There she put on 
long skirts and lengthened the sleeves of her 
dress in order to look older and so to com- 
mand the respect of her pupils. These 
pupils, however, soon found out that there 
was no trifling with one of her force of will. 

School-Keeping and Breakdown in 
Boston. — After a year thus spent in Wor- 
cester, the now fifteen-year-old girl was 
taken charge of by her grandmother, then 
living in Boston. This gave her a chance 
at the wider education she was so hungry 
and thirsty for. Later on she set up a com- 



bined day and boarding-school, which proved 
so excellent that the daughters of the best 
people in the city were put under her care. 
Night and day did she work away, strug- 
gling for years, not only to improve the 
minds, but to form the characters of her 
pupils. The strain upon her was however 
too severe, and finally, in 1836, she broke 
down absolutely. Alarming hemorrhages set 
in, with a sharp pain in her side, as though a 
splintered lance were there. However, she 
had earned a competence, and had educated 
and sent out into the world her younger 
brothers ; but it looked as though she had 
killed herself in doing it. Everybody felt 
sure that she was doomed to die of rapid 
consumption. Some people, however, are 
hard to kill, and she was one of them. The 
more reason, courage, and determination of 
purpose you children exert, the harder will 
it be for disease to kill you. 

Her Real Work in Life Opens. — A 
year spent in Liverpool, England, where 
Miss Dix was taken into the family of Mr. 
William Rathbone and treated with the most 
loving care, partially restored her. Still 
when she returned to America, it seemed as 
though she would remain a broken invalid 
all her days. Now a wise observer of 
human affairs once said : " The world's work 
is done by its invalids." Nelson was an 
invalid ; Bacon was an invalid ; Darwin was 
an invalid. So never mind if you also are 
one. At any rate so long as Miss Dix had 
a thimbleful of vital force, she determined to 
use it for the benefit of her fellow-creatures. 

Before long her attention was called to the 
dreadful treatment insane people were sub- 
jected to. They were looked on very much 
as though they were mad dogs. Shut up in 
cold, freezing, cells, chained down to the 
ground, beaten with clubs, and half starved, 
they were exposed to the public gaze like so 



104 



MERCY. 



many wild beasts. The sight of this tor- 
tured the merciful heart of Miss Dix. But 
she was not the kind of woman to raise a 
shriek of horror, and then run away to get 
out of the sight of such misery. Patiently 
she spent a whole year inspecting the poor- 
houses and prisons all over Massachusetts, 
and then made such a report to the legisla- 
ture that a thrill of horror ran through the 
public mind. What she insisted on was the 
establishment of fit insane asylums, where 
the poor creatures could have wise medical 
care, pure air, proper food, green grass, and 
shady trees, together with all the liberty 
their sad condition would permit of. Thus 
in Massachusetts she scored her first victory 
for poor outraged humanity. But what she 
had seen in her own State made her sure 
that just the same was going on in all the 
other States. So she determined to conse- 
crate her life to the apostleship of glad tidings 
of great joy to the insane everywhere. 

The story that followed reads like a fairy 
tale. First she took hold of Rhode Island, 
then of New Jersey, then of Pennsylvania, 
and then pushed on and on through the south 
and west. Napoleon never achieved such a 
series of victories on the battle-fields of war 
as this invalid, given over to die of con- 
sumption, on the battle-fields of humanity. 
It cost years of toil, privation, exposure to 
disease, flood, and accident, to carry thus by 
storm legislature after legislature. But the 
heroic woman never faltered, and as to-day 
one travels through more than twenty States 
in the Union, and sees the enormous and 
beautiful buildings, with their parks and 
groves and fountains and flowers, she caused 
to be erected for these miserable outcasts, 
one cannot help exclaiming, " Did ever, in 
the whole history of the world, any one per- 
son found so many institutions of mercy as 
Dorothea L. Dix?" 

Personal Appearance. — In height, Miss 
Dix was rather above the average in women. 
Quiet but always tasteful in the style of her 
half Quaker dress, her wavy, dark brown 



hair was brought down over the cheek and 
carried behind the ears. Her eyes, alter- 
nately soft or brilliant or commanding, were 
capable of every range of expression. An 
almost hectic glow of color lighted up her 
face. The head, beautifully shaped, was 
set on a neck so long, flexible, and swan-like 
as to impart an air of marked distinction to 
her carriage; while of the wonderful qualities 
of her voice, so rich, sweet, and low, her 
oldest friends were never weary of speaking. 

Traits of Character. — Persistence. Once 
she had undertaken a thing, Miss Dix never 
gave up. " ' Impossible ! ' Never mention to 
me that beast of a word ! " cried Napoleon 
to one of his generals. This was equally 
Miss Dix's motto. Her system, as her 
doctor said, was actually "saturated with 
malaria " contracted in the South. But that 
was the malaria's business, not hers ; and on 
she went with her work. The persistent 
heroism with which, after defeat on defeat, 
she finally carried through Congress her 
"12,250,000 Acre Bill," is one of the most 
astounding feats in the whole history of 
philanthropy. 

Courage. — She was afraid of nothing. 
Attacked by a robber on the road, her 
gentle and womanly way of talking to him 
disarmed him on the spot. She would 
quietly enter the iron cage of a maniaG 
which no man, without a club, would dare to 
set foot in. On her long and lonely jour- 
neyings she would never turn back for fire, 
flood, or cholera. 

Persuasiveness. — The anecdotes, on pages 
101 and 154 of her biography, by Francis 
Tiffany, illustrating her power (in the in- 
stances of Mr. Cyrus Butler, of Providence, 
and Mr. Thomas Blagden, of Washington) 
to win over to great pecuniary sacrifice men 
whom no others could move an inch, serve 
as striking instances of a persuasive power 
as rare as it is beautiful. 

Inspiration. — When, within the space of 
a few weeks after landing in England utterly 
exhausted with her past labors, she at once 



MERCY. 



105 



initiated the measures that carried Parlia- 
ment by storm and revolutionized the whole 
lunacy legislation of Scotland, she showed 
herself capable of a feat as marvellous as 
that of Joan of Arc in France. Equally her 



rapid visit to Sable Island and inauguration 
there of a life-saving service which, the day 
after the boats arrived, saved the lives of 
one hundred and eighty people, mark the 
lightning swift inspiration of her mind; 



QUESTIONS. 



Where was Dorothea Dix born ? Had she a 
happy childhood? What is a child-mother 1 ? 
Why did she wear long skirts ? Was her 
school in Boston successful ? Was she right in 
overworking so ? Why was she hard to kill ? 
Can invalids do anything for the world ? How 
can they economize their scant supplies of 
strength ? Name some famous invalids. What 
did Miss Dix find to be the way in which in- 



sane people were treated ? What better way 
did she try to get established? When she 
succeeded in Massachusetts, did she give up? 
What did she do in other States ? Did you 
ever visit a modern insane asylum? What 
was Miss Dix's appearance ? How did she 
show persistence ? How courage ? How 
persuasiveness ? How inspiration ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



What can you tell the children about Philippe 
Pinel and William Tuke, the pioneers in 
the modern treatment of the insane ? See 
biography. 

How are children to regard such contemptuous 



terms as " The American Invader," applied 
to Miss Dix in Scotland ? 
What combination of qualities is requisite to 
success in such a work as that achieved by 
Miss Dix ? 



Noble Life : 

THOREAU. 



GOLDEN TEXT. 

O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! 
In wisdom hast thou made them all. 

Psalm civ. 24. 



Topic : 
LOVE of NATURE. 



The subject of this lesson paper, Henry 
David Thoreau, was born in the town of Con- 
cord, Mass., on the 12th of July, 1817. He 
never went very far from his birthplace at 
any time in his life. Once he travelled to 
Canada, once into the West, once he visited 
Cape Cod. These were the chief excursions 
that he made; and yet no man has lived in 
modern times who knew more about Nature 
and the varied life of flower, bird, brook, 
and sky than he. 

Concord has been made famous by noted 
authors, among them the chief being Emer- 
son. Thoreau and Emerson were great 
friends, and the latter said of the former : 
" He knew the country like a fox or a bird. 
He knew every track in the snow or on the 
ground, and what creature had taken this 
path before him. Under his arm he carried 
an old music-book to press plants; in his 
pocket his diary and pencil, a spy-glass for 
birds, microscope, jack-knife, and twine." 
He wore a straw hat, stout shoes, could 
climb trees and wade pools. 

Facts of His Life. — There is very little 
to be told about his life as we count biogra- 
phy. Thoreau was born in a farmhouse; 
as a boy he drove the cow to pasture, and 
took his average instruction in the public 
schools. He entered Harvard University, 
but was not specially distinguished in his 
studies. Early he had commenced to reveal 
a love of Nature, and when twelve years of 
age had made collections of specimens. 

He taught school for a while. From this 
he turned to his father's trade, which was 
the manufacture of lead-pencils. Believing 
that he could make a better pencil than had 
been offered, he experimented. On exhibit- 
ing his work to chemists and artists, he ob- 
tained their endorsement that it was equal 
to the best foreign manufacture. It seemed 
now as though a fortune was open to him. 



But he dropped pencil-making, finding in 
the proof of success all that he cared for. 
He resumed his solitary walks and his ob- 
servations. Some of the time he spent in 
surveying, but about 1845 he took up a 
novel mode of life. 

Walden. — On the shores of Walden 
Pond Thoreau made a hermit's home in the 
shape of a small frame house, rude enough 
to be called by most people a hut. He 
built this, furnished it, and kept it in order 
with his own hands. There he dwelt two 
years. He made friends with the beasts, 
birds, and fishes, studied the weather, grew 
familiar with the trees and shrubs, and 
seemed to read the inner life of all things 
around him. The book called "Walden," 
which he afterward wrote, containing the 
results of his investigation and thought, is 
the most popular of all his books. In its 
pages we have Nature at first hand. 

Fame. — Thoreau did not live to be very 
old, despite his active out-door life. Having 
caught a severe cold, it developed inherited 
tendencies to consumption, and he passed 
away on the sixth of May, 1862, having 
filled forty-five years with wondrous activity 
of mind. 

He lectured a great deal, and became 
noted as one of the most original members 
of the Concord circle. Whenever he was 
trying to live the life of a hermit, visitors 
sought him from all quarters. His sincerity 
was matched by his desire to get at the 
reality of all things. 

Probably no one ever tried to impress on 
the restless American mind this truth more 
fully than he, — that one can find the great- 
est revelations at home and through the 
ordinary channels. As Ralph Waldo Emer- 
son has said, " He made the fields, hills, 
waters of his native town known and inter- 
esting to all reading Americans, and to peo- 



LOVE OF NATURE. 



107 



pie over the sea." No doubt he was exces- 
sive ; he claimed too much value for a life 
spent alone. But a spirit like his clears 
away a great deal of fog, and enables us to 
see more accurately where we are. 

He distrusted cities, and construed mod- 
ern refinements as a subtle poison. When 
he saw the forests go down before the axe, 
he would exclaim, " Thank God, they can- 
not cut down the clouds." The following 
are some of his sayings : — 

" The bluebird carries the sky on his 
back." 

" Some circumstantial evidence is very 
strong, as when you find a trout in the milk." 

"Nothing is so much to be feared as 
fear." 

" Of what significance the things you can 
forget? A little thought is sexton to all 
the world." 

"You may have the extraordinary for 
your province if you will ; let me have the 
ordinary. Give me the obscure life, the 
cottage of the poor and humble, the work- 
days of the world, the barren fields. Give 
me but the eyes to see the things which you 
possess." 

He said of individuals well educated but 
idle,— 

"They are like fine-edged tools gradu- 
ally becoming rusty in a shop window." 

He was a good swimmer, runner, skater, 
boatman, and could probably outwalk most 
countrymen in a day's journey. He never 
had much patience with respectable stu- 
pidity. His desire was to have every one 
use his own eyes and ears. The humming 
of the telegraph wire gave him poetic sug- 
gestion. An insect was an object of as 
much interest to him as a comet. 

Considerations. — The study of this 
unique life yields certain very clear lessons : 

I. We gain a great deal in modern life 
by what we call the comforts and conve- 
niences ; but by their use we are constantly 
in danger of dulling our faculties. Our eyes 
fail through lack of practice to see the 



glories of "Nature. Our ears, through disuse, 
catch not the harmonies of the outer world. 
The Indians who lived on this continent be- 
fore us had a wonderful acuteness in certain 
ways, which puts some of our inventions to 
shame. Thoreau warns us of our danger in 
this respect. 

II. In his case, as in most instances of 
great achievement, we find patience con- 
spicuous. Thoreau could sit for hours wait- 
ing for a bird or animal to appear from nest 
or hole in order to obtain facts. The snows 
of December and the heats of August were 
counted as nothing. The only way to win 
the secrets of Nature is by patient knock- 
ing and waiting at the closed doors. This 
is the history of the noblest inventions, — 
they have been wrought out by incredible 
patience. 

III. Another trait worthy our notice is 
that of making every day the scene of in- 
terest. Thoreau did not live in the past. 
His heart was rejoiced with the events and 
scenes of each revolving day's life. In this 
way he maintained his youthful spirits, and 
never grew old, though the years increased. 

IV. There is another important consider- 
ation in this topic which his character illus- 
trates, namely, — the union of accurate facts 
with a poetic insight. There are mere fact- 
gatherers who amount to very little. They 
are pedants or dry-as-dust disbursers of de- 
tails. The true lover of Nature is not only 
a naturalist but a poet. Color, day and 
night, all sounds, the processes of Nature, — 
everything carried to Thoreau's mind a mes- 
sage of the Divine and Eternal. It was in 
this lofty sense that the Psalmist said : 
" Praise ye him, sun and moon ; praise him 
all ye stars of light, fire and hail, snow and 
vapors, stormy winds fulfilling his word ; 
beasts and all cattle, creeping things and 
flying fowl, let them praise the name of the 
Lord." 

V. There is nothing necessarily vague 
or eccentric in the real life of a lover of 
Nature. Thoreau had a vast amount of 



108 



LOVE OF NATURE. 



common- sense. The large thought and 
poetic picture which he so frequently pro- 
duced were simply reservoirs to furnish sup. 
plies for action and character. It was he 
who said, " It is not enough simply to be 
good, — you must be good for something." 
And also, " How can they expect a harvest 
of thought who have not had a seed-time of 
character ? " In a true sense he was deeply 
religious, but he was constantly aiming to 
put religious sentiment and religious state- 
ments into the harness of actual duty, that 
they might pull humanity forward and 
upward. 

VI. Let us be on our guard. There are 
two extremes ; one in which society and 
fashion submerge the love of Nature, and 
another where it is cultivated in a hot-house 
of sentimentalism and becomes artificial. 
We get out of Nature what we carry to her. 
There is a great deal of idle talk about wor- 
shipping in the fields and woods ; such 
places will not become temples and sanctu- 
aries unless we carry the right spirit there. 
To make a holy place out of any spot, one 
must be able to interpret the surroundings. 
What we understand by Nature, Nature's 
laws, Nature's glories, is just what we are 
capable of translating. There are vast dis- 
closures yet to come from this outer world 
to those who shall be more developed than 
we are. 

VII. In this sense it is quite true, as 
James Freeman Clarke has stated, that Chris- 
tianity which teaches us to love God with 
all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and 
to love our neighbor as ourself, tends, when 

QUES 

Where was Thoreau born 1 Is his birth- 
place famous ? What does Emerson say of 
him ? Did he write any books ? Which is 
the best known 1 What is a hermit 1 Have 
you ever seen one ? Would you call Thoreau 
a hermit ? Can you repeat any of his say- 
ings 1 What do you admire most in Nature 1 
What did Thoreau aim to get by freedom with 

TO TE 

Consult Channing's "Life of Thoreau," and 

Sanborn's. 
Read Psalms cxlvii and cxlviii. 



rightly applied, to throw a glory and a glow 
over all earthly incidents, calling nothing 
common or unclean. It will teach us how 
to take an interest even in reptiles, insects, 
and weeds. 

Let us recall how Jesus loved the scenes 
of his ministry, and how he spoke of many 
things in Nature. His key- word is " Con- 
sider ; " that is to say, meditate and reflect 
upon what you see, — the lilies, the birds, the 
seed sown, and all Nature's varied life. Con- 
sider ; and so see through these facts to the 
great meaning behind. Then follow the 
true attitude and the religious feeling. God 
is greater than his works, but his works do 
speak for him ; and in this state of mind we 
grow thankful and trusting. 

It was in this way that Theodore Parker 
expressed himself in those wonderful prayers 
of his, often speaking like this : " Father, we 
thank thee for the material world which thou 
hast placed all around us, underneath, and 
overhead. We thank thee for the sun which 
across the wintry land or the summer fields 
pours out the beauty of the golden day, 
checkering the year with exceeding loveli- 
ness. We thank thee for the night, visited 
with troops of stars, and for the moon, which 
walks in brightness over the east and the 
west, gladdening the eyes of wakeful men. 
We thank thee for the wondrous use there 
is in this material world, which feeds and 
shelters with house and raiment our mortal 
flesh, which is kind with medicines to our 
various ailments, and. furnishes manifold 
tools for our toil and thought." 

IONS. 

Nature which he could not obtain in cities? 
What do you enjoy most in field or forest 
life ? If all persons see the same objects in 
Nature, what makes the difference in their 
thoughts ? Can you mention some of the 
" considerations " in this lesson ? How did 
Jesus speak of lily and sparrow and other 
objects of Nature 1 

CHERS. 

Show how rational religion affiliates with sci- 
ence on the one hand and poetry on the 
other, to the true treatment of Nature. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

O God, our fathers have told us what 
work thou didst in their days, in the 
times of old. — Psalm xliv. 1. 




Noble Life : 
JOHN ADAMS. 


Topic : 
PATRIOTISM. 







But little is written of the child-life of 
the second President of the United States, 
a man of unflinching honesty and a patriot 
of the noblest order. 

Childhood. — In the town of Quincy, 
Mass., then a part of the village of Brain- 
tree, lived a farmer whose father had been 
a farmer, and whose grandfather had tilled 
the soil before him. The Adamses were 
an honest, faithful people, commanding the 
respect of the neighborhood. They were 
not rich, neither were they poor ; but being 
thrifty and economical, lived with comfort. 
Stern integrity was the predominant quality. 

Into the country farm life, in the autumn 
of 1735, was born John Adams. Another 
farmer, one would suppose, in the line ; and 
for years there was nothing in the boy to 
show that he had a stronger character than 
his father and his grandfather. And it 
must be remembered, throughout his life it 
was the sturdy qualities of these ancestors 
that made him the statesman and patriot 
whom we know. 

The father of John Adams (himself named 
John) hoped to make his son a minister. 
The boy did not show much fondness for 
books. He preferred life out of doors 
among the birds and the squirrels, roaming 
the woods, — living just the life a wide- 
awake boy on a farm would lead now-a- 
days. 

Career. — When he was fourteen years 
old his father felt that the boy should begin 
to take a more serious view of life, and pre- 
pare himself for his career, whatever it might 
be. He called John to him and said : " It 
is time now for you to commence your life 
work. What business do you wish to 
follow ? " And the active boy, perhaps with 
the fear of losing the free country life he 
loved so well, said he would be a farmer. 
The next day the business of life began. 



Childhood was put away, and at an early 
hour in the morning John went into the 
field to hoe. He came home at noon, and 
went back again to his work until sundown. 
Many were the thoughts which flitted 
through his brain that hot summer day. 
The sun shone, but it was not the same sun 
of his idler days ; the river ran as merrily, 
but it was no longer his ; the birds and 
squirrels were all there, but they were com- 
panions of his childhood, and now he was a 
man. Poor boy, the change was hard for 
him ! 

When John, hot, tired, discouraged, and 
unhappy, came home, he little knew that that 
day was the great turning-point of his life. 
" Father," he said, " I have been thinking 
to-day, and have concluded that I should 
like to try my books." His father readily 
consented, gave him every opportunity in 
his power, and though often straitened in 
means, sent the lad to college. 

Rank. — John entered Harvard College 
when he was sixteen years old. It is curi- 
ous to note that the students were all en- 
rolled according to social position, and John 
Adams was the fourteenth in his class. In 
college he was noted for integrity and energy 
as well as for ability, — those qualities which 
the sturdy line of farmers had handed down 
to their children. 

Profession. — The year he graduated, 
then twenty years of age, he became teacher 
of the grammar school in Worcester. There 
he earned the money to aid him in studying 
his profession, and the training was excel- 
lent for the young man. He decided he 
would be a lawyer, and he wrote : " But I 
set out with firm resolutions, I think, never 
to commit any meanness or injustice in the 
practice of law. The study and practice of 
law, I am sure, does not dissolve the obliga- 
tions of morality or of religion." 



110 



PATRIOTISM. 



Enthusiasm. — There were stirring times 
when John Adams was thirty years old. 
The British government imposed taxes and 
searched for goods which had evaded their 
officers. The matter was brought before 
the Superior Court. James Otis argued the 
cause of the merchants, and John Adams 
listened intently. He afterwards wrote : 
" Otis was a flame of fire. . . . American 
independence was then and there born. 
Every man appeared to me ready to get 
away and to take up arms." 

Stamp Act. — Then the Stamp Act was 
issued. John Adams's whole soul was fired 
with indignation at the injustice. He drew 
up a set of resolutions, remonstrating against 
it, which were "adopted ; not only by the 
citizens of Braintree, but by those of more 
than forty towns in the State ; and the land- 
ing of the Stamp Act paper was prevented. 
Courts were closed, and the excitement was 
intense. John Adams boldly said that the 
Stamp Act was an assumption of arbitrary 
power, violating both the English constitu- 
tion and the charter of the province. 

Press Gang. — A press gang seized an 
American boy not long after this, and the 
young fellow killed the leader. He was 
tried for murder, and John Adams defended 
him. He was acquitted, and the American 
Colonies made England understand that 
nothing of the kind would be permitted in 
America. 

Boston Massacre. — In 1770, a small 
party of British soldiers, insulted by a crowd, 
fired upon the people, killing and wounding 
several persons. An officer and six soldiers 
were arrested and tried for murder; John 
Adams and Josiah Quincy, nobly, in the 
face of insult and obloquy, undertook their 
defence. 

Congress at Philadelphia. — And now 

came the closing of Boston's ports, because 
the tea had been thrown overboard and 
Boston would not submit to the tax. A 
Congress was convened in Philadelphia, and 
John Adams was one of the five delegates 



sent from Boston. He knew the grave re- 
sponsibility of the time. With intense feel- 
ing he exclaimed : " God grant us wisdom 
and fortitude! Should the opposition be 
suppressed, should this country submit, 
what infamy and ruin! God forbid! Death 
in any form is less terrible." 

Declaration of Independence. — Jeffer- 
son and Adams were appointed to draw 
up the Declaration of Independence. Mr. 
Adams insisted that Jefferson should pre- 
pare it, and he with fifty-four others signed 
it. Mr. Jefferson wrote : " The great pillar 
of support to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and its ablest advocate and champion 
on the floor of the House, was John Adams. 
He was our Colossus." 

Sent to France. — In 1777, John Adams 
was appointed delegate to France, with 
Franklin and Lee, to obtain aid from the 
French government. He had no wish to 
leave America, and the trip was one of 
danger and excitement. Still he saw clearly 
that it was his duty to go. Putting aside 
his own wishes, he went. This was but the 
first of several trips in behalf of his country. 

Retired Life. — In various ways, John 
Adams served his country with unswerving 
loyalty. When Washington was chosen 
President, John Adams was chosen Vice- 
President for both terms, and then elected 
President. After years of faithful public 
service, he retired from active life, and died 
when ninety years old, on the Fourth of 
July, 1826, the same day on which Thomas 
Jefferson expired. To the very last he was 
always ready to give his word — strong, 
convincing, powerful as of old — in defence 
of the right. 

Comments. — Note how the boy drew in 
freedom with his earliest breath. The free, 
wild life which he led roaming the country 
was a training for freedom ever after ; but 
as the boy became a man the freedom of 
the body became the freedom of the spirit. 
Stern, uncompromising integrity was his in- 
heritance ; and to the end John Adams 



PATRIOTISM. 



Ill 



answered the call of duty. There was no 
dallying with temptation, — that would have 
bound him ; but whatever called him that 
was noble, true, and honest, did not call in 
vain. Enemies he had, and bitter ones ; no 
strong man can be without them. A man 
who rises above the action of the times to 
principles is often misunderstood. 

I. Patriotism. — Patriotism is a sacri- 
ficing love to men. It is far-seeing, public- 
spirited, and following in the footsteps of 
Christ. The patriot looks higher than 
battle, than dispute, than the excitement of 
the moment. To him life is given to be 
used for others. The soldier is not the only 
patriot. A man may fight in battle and die, 
and yet not be worthy to be called a patriot. 
Various motives may influence him, and he 
may think that patriotism is one of them; 
but unless his country means to him the 
good of his fellow-beings, he is not a patriot. 
The people are our country. The good of 
the people is the good of the country. 

II. To-day. — There is no war in our 
land, — no war with foreign countries. Have 
we then — men, women, boys, and girls — 
no patriotic duties to perform ? If we would 
see our country the kingdom of God, we 
must give ourselves to every good cause. 
Do we see intemperance threatening the 
land like a great wave, it should call for our 
interest and our help to drive it back. Is 



our country losing its purity? Can bribes 
be offered with impunity ? We are no patri- 
ots if we do not turn our little influence in 
the cause of right. 

The man or woman of the school com- 
mittee, working conscientiously that the boys 
and girls shall have the best education to fit 
them for future life, is a patriot. The 
teacher who patiently works on with that 
great end in view is the same. If greed or 
bigotry claims from town, city, or country 
that which will debase her people, every 
boy and girl, every man and woman, should 
frown it down, were it using the Boston 
Common or hampering our public schools. 
This is true patriotism, and the influence 
of every person is needed for the right. 

III. Christianity. — What is the differ- 
ence between Christianity and patriotism in 
its purest form? Both are governed by the 
great law of love to others, — to love one's 
neighbor as one's self and desire for him the 
best and highest conditions of life. Do not 
look after great things to do in order to 
bring in the kingdom of God. It is more 
than likely that the great things will never 
call you. Listen and hear ; open your eyes 
and see what God will have you do in this 
vast world of ours. Do it as his command, 
and for the good of his people, and the land 
shall be his land. 



QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 



What was the characteristic of the Adams 
family ? What profession did his father wish 
our subject to choose ? Was he a studious boy ? 
Was it just to rank him fourteenth in his class ? 



What made the stirring times when John 
Adams was thirty years old? Who wrote 
the Declaration of Independence'? Why did 
Adams go to France ? 



QUESTIONS FOR OLDER PUPILS. 



Are both bad and good characteristics trans- 
mitted to children, and what lesson do we 
learn from it? Do you think John Adams 
would have defended a man whom he believed 
guilty? Why was the Stamp Act unjust? 
What have we in Boston to commemorate the 



Boston Massacre ? Where was the Declara- 
tion of Independence drawn up? What ob- 
stacles did Adams really encounter on his 
voyage to France ? Can a man be a true 
patriot and not be a Christian ? Mention the 
calls of patriotism to-day. 



TO TEACHERS. 



Show that patriotism is not narrow. 



Consult Parker's lecture on John Adams in 
" Historic Americans." 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Man shall not live by bread alone. 

Matt. iv. 4. 




Noble Life : 
BEETHOVEN. 


Topic : 
SENTIMENT. 







It is somewhat difficult to define just what 
our topic means ; but perhaps the example 
of Beethoven and such illustrations as we 
can bring to bear on the topic, may make 
somewhat clear to our minds what part sen- 
timent has in character. 

Birth. — Ludwig van Beethoven was born 
at Bonn, probably in 1770, December 16. 
His father was a musician, and suffered from 
two great foes, — a violent temper and a 
habit of drink. The family being poor, 
young Ludwig was early made to submit to 
a severe training on the violin in order to 
obtain money. As early as the fourth year 
of his age, Beethoven began his studies. By 
the time he reached the age of nine, he 
had advanced so far in music that his father 
could not teach him anything more, and 
he was passed over to others for further 
education. His talent was early discerned, 
and Mozart said of him, speaking to some 
friends, " Pay attention to him, he ' will 
make a noise in the world some day or 
other." It does not appear that these early 
years were very fruitful in original compo- 
sitions, as was the case with so many great 
composers. But Beethoven was constantly 
storing up resources for his future career. 
When he was fifteen years old he was ap- 
pointed assistant to the court organist ; and 
in a description of the various musicians 
attached to the court he is described as " of 
good capacity, young, of good, quiet be- 
havior, and poor." 

At the Court. — Meanwhile various indi- 
viduals near the king and in power detected 
his genius, and in one way and another 
helped to develop it. It is not sufficiently 
interesting for our purposes here to relate 
the various ways in which Beethoven grad- 
ually ascended to his fame. It was not an 
easy path. He himself developed early 
strong peculiarities. At one time he would 



be in hearty friendship with some patrons, 
and the next we hear of him, he was writing 
them bitter letters and had severed all ties. 
Like so many of his profession, gifted with 
an intense susceptibility, he was full of re- 
actions, often suspicious, ready to break 
out in unrestrained show of feeling. 

But in the midst of all these little shadows, 
the great light of his ability was steadily 
shining. At the court he was an object of 
admiration, and his popularity was con- 
stantly on the increase. Absorbed in medi- 
tation he forgot ordinary affairs. One 
illustration is as good as a dozen. He loved 
the sound of flowing water, and frequently 
would let it run over his hands until, 
absorbed in some musical suggestions from 
the murmur, he would allow this water to 
pour over the floor of his apartment until it 
soaked down and astonished the dwellers 
below. 

When lost in thought his looks were very 
severe, and it was almost useless to expect 
any attentions from him. His handwriting 
was as disorderly as his dress. He took a 
letter once to the post-office directed by him- 
self, and he was asked where it was intended 
to go. On this incident he comments as 
follows : " From this I see that my writing 
is as often misunderstood as I am myself." 

Fame. — Fame began to put her laurels 
on his brow. In other countries he became 
known. The compositions that we now lis- 
ten to with such delight were even then 
welcomed as wonderful. But in the midst 
of all this came a terrible blight. He found 
it somewhat difficult to hear, even as early as 
1798; and after that the trouble increased. 
It aggravated many of his traits, and deep- 
ened the lonesome spirit of his meditations. 
At one of the performances of his " Choral 
Symphony," his friends turned him around 
that he might see the applause which his 



SENTIMENT. 



113 



music produced, but which he did not hear. 
In these years all communication was car- 
ried on by writing, and he always had a 
book of paper with a pencil at hand. 

We think of Milton as we consider this 
sad part of Beethoven's life ; and for which 
we should have the more admiration it is 
difficult to say. The blindness of Milton 
drove him in upon himself, and there he 
communed with the noblest sentiments. The 
deafness of Beethoven shut him out from 
happy converse with his f ellowmen ; yet he 
lived in a world of his own where harmonies 
were heard which he afterward gave to an 
eagerly listening world. 

His Character. — This is what he wrote 
at one time : " Ye men who believe or say 
that I am hostile, rough, or misanthropical, 
how unjust are you to me in your ignorance 
of the secret cause of what appears in that 
light. Born with a fiery, lively temper, and 
desiring to enjoy society, I have been obliged 
to set myself apart and live a lonely life." 
He was by nature tender-hearted and full of 
noble impulses. 

One of the last injuries to his feelings was 
the treachery of a nephew on whom he had 
lavished money and affection. Great assem- 
blies had crowned him with applause, honors 
of the highest kind had come to him, but 
we think of him as carrying in his heart a 
sense of disappointment and sometimes of 
bitterness. 

The Close. — Beethoven died on March 
27, 1827, during a terrible thunder-storm. 
The funeral took place a few days after, 
and was attended by all the musicians of 
Vienna. The crowd of people was enor- 
mous ; soldiers had to be called in to make 
a way for the procession, and it took an 
hour and a half to pass the little distance 
from the house to the church. 

His Rank. — Beethoven modestly said, 
toward the end of his life : " I feel as though 
I had written scarcely more than a few 
notes." Yet in another mood he quite fitly 
said : " I have no fear for my works ; no 



harm can betide them. Whoever under- 
stands them shall be delivered from the 
burdens that afflict humankind." Then, in 
still another state of mind, he said : " I go 
to my death with joy. Farewell, and do 
not quite forget me after I am dead." He 
was very democratic, and desired that all 
men should enjoy freedom and equal rights 
before the law. When asked once in court 
to produce the proof of his nobility, he 
pointed to his head and heart, saying, " My 
nobility is here and here." His high-strung 
nervous system would account for many 
peculiarities. He once left a summer home 
suddenly, where he was very happy, because 
his host persisted in making profound bows 
whenever he met him. By those who did 
not understand him he was called " a growl- 
ing old bear." On the other hand those 
who appreciated his genius called him "a 
cloud-compeller of the world of music." 
He is in music what Milton is in poetry, — 
lofty, majestic, stately. This is the keynote 
of his ideal: "Nothing can be more sub- 
lime," he writes, "than to draw nearer to 
the Godhead than other men, and to diffuse 
here on earth these godlike rays among 
mortals." 

Music. — The kingdom of music is spe- 
cially the kingdom of sentiment. Poetry 
and painting are also adjacent realms. 
Music ushers into a world of eternal things. 
"The composer's world is the world of 
emotion, full of delicate elations and de- 
pressions, which like the hum of minute 
insects, hardly arrest the uncultivated ear; 
full also of melodious thunder and rolling 
waters and the voice of the south wind." 

There is a great deal of discussion about 
the different kinds of music, but there is 
always this distinction to be made ; namely, 
that music such as Beethoven has given to 
the world stimulates thought and seems to 
be based on ideas ; but there is a vast 
deal of music which is so purely emotional 
that it enervates the character and wastes 
emotion. 



114 



SENTIMENT. 



Sentiment in music leaves one in an up- 
lifted and wholesome state of mind. Senti- 
mentalism in music is a kind of drug, which 
may give a momentary pleasure, but is really 
hostile to strength of character. 

Beethoven, when he sat down to improvise, 
startled every one by his marvellous extem- 
porizing power. But when he sat down to 
compose, no man has shown more caution 
and patience. He left a mass of note-books 
which revealed how slowly his great works 
grew. Beethoven is a good subject for our 
lesson, because while he enchants, and trans- 
ports us as it were into another world, we 
still find ourselves linked to duty and to 
noble living. 

Sentiment in Life. — I said in the be- 
ginning that it is difficult to define sentiment. 
Let us use two or three figures. Let us call 
it color, without which nothing in Nature or 
art is complete. A colorless character is as 
unsatisfactory as a colorless landscape. Let 
us call it again cement ; it serves to bind to- 
gether the ordinary facts and transactions of 
life ; the bricks and stones of a building are 
useless until held in places designed for 
them under some governing plan. So with 
us. A selfish, prosaic, and gross character 
is not bound together by noble sentiments. 
Or we might say, again, that sentiment is the 
wing-power of man, whereby he has ability 

QUES 

Who was Beethoven ? To what poet would 
you compare him 1 Where was he born ? 
Was he peculiar? Did people understand 
him? What was his great affliction? How 
would you define sentiment ? When it is 
diluted what do we call it ? Would a person 
with sentiment be more kindhearted than one 



to fly away from the commonplace and un- 
worthy. By it a citizen becomes a glowing 
patriot, the drudging youth turns into the 
devoted statesman, and average humanity 
looks up and adores. 

Our Aim. — Let us strive to keep in 
mind always how important sentiment is to 
a happy and useful career, whatever position 
in life we occupy. Noble sentiments are the 
richest possession we can have. They cheer 
us when we are despondent, they sing to us 
when we are lonesome, they keep us young, 
they maintain our trust in truth and God, — 
they are, in fact, gracious poets and divine 
musicians. By them the true, the good, and 
the beautiful are kept before us. 

In Religion. — We need but a word to 
bring out the fact that in religion all we 
have stated about sentiment is essential. 
It is this trait of character which has to 
do greatly with worship, reverence, and as- 
piration. Morality needs to be touched by 
sentiment or emotion. Sentiment leads us 
to love sacred spots, to create commemora- 
tive days, and to sing psalms of gratitude 
together. 

The great feature of Christianity is the 
sentiment of love. As it was exemplified in 
Jesus, we see that it can blossom out in the 
finest type of character which the world has 
ever seen. 

IONS. 

without ? Why do selfish and bad men laugh 
at sentiment ? Can you mention some char- 
acters with noble sentiments ? Is it not a noble 
trait to honor the heroic dead ? Is enthusiasm 
for our country's flag sentiment? What is 
worship and adoration based on? 



TO TEACHERS. 

Be sure to show your scholars the difference Show how the great poet and musical com- 

between shallow emotion and emotion with poser touch depths in human nature others 

high thought. cannot. 

Cite instances of sentiment in ordinary life. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 

Let us hold fast the profession of our 
faith without wavering. — Hebrews x. 23. 




Noble Life: 

Joseph Priestley. 


Topic: 
FAITH. 







Boyhood. — Joseph Priestley was born 
in England in 1733. He was one of those 
good little boys whose performances astonish 
us. He was brought up very strictly ; and 
once, in order to teach him not to take what 
did not belong to him, he was made to carry 
back to his uncle's house a pin which he 
had picked up while playing there. When 
only four years old he could repeat the 
Assembly's Catechism without missing a 
word. What Sunday-School child, in any 
class, could now repeat any catechism? He 
read religious books and studied Hebrew in 
his holidays. 

Preaching. — He soon, even for a boy, 
relied upon his own way of thinking, and 
refused to go to an academy where he would 
have had to agree to the Calvinistic creed. 
The older he grew, the more inclined was 
he to what is now called Unitarianism. Just 
because of this he had a hard time, and 
could only get a small congregation. So 
he also became a teacher, and divided his 
time between theology and natural science, 
between his pulpit and his classes. 

Method. — He arranged his hours as 
strictly as did Wesley. Each year he laid 
out a course of study, and at the end of the 
twelve months took account of what he had 
done and compared it with what he had 
meant to do, deducting what he had not 
accomplished and adding the extra amount 
he had gained unexpectedly, just as a book- 
keeper settles his yearly accounts. 

Air-pump. — When teaching he was eager 
to buy an air-pump and an electrical machine. 
As he had no rich relations to give them to 
him, he saved up his money till he could buy 
them. He little dreamed that they would 
be the beginning of making him a famous 
scientific man, but he had faith that they 
would help him in whatever he wished to do. 
He became acquainted with Dr. Franklin, 



who was then in London, and by his advice 
wrote a history of electrical discoveries. 

Oxygen. — At one time he lived near a 
brewery, and noticing that lighted chips 
were put out by the gas rising from fer- 
mented liquor, he began, though forty years 
old, to study chemistry. By and by he dis- 
covered oxygen gas, and that led him to 
find out why the blood in our arteries is red. 
He next discovered different kinds of gases 
and aeriform bodies, and invented the pneu- 
matic trough. 

Beliefs. — While doing all these things, 
he was either preaching or writing ; for his 
very knowledge of science made him believe 
all the more firmly that there was a God. 
Gradually he had many enemies, for though 
he was honored throughout Europe as a 
wonderful scientific man, some of the great 
scientists were surprised that he believed in 
Christianity. On the other hand, the clergy 
declared that he was an enemy to revelation, 
for they thought each word in the Bible 
was literally true. Priestley believed in 
using his reason about religion just as he 
did about science. Then he believed in the 
independence of the American colonies, and 
was interested in the French revolution. 

Hatred of him. — So all these things, — 
his opinions as against those of the High 
Church, his faith in God as against those 
who did not believe in him, his independ- 
ence in speech and writing, his declarations 
about freedom, — all these ideas of his were 
either exaggerated or misstated. 

At last, when he was living in Birming- 
ham, in 1791, there was a celebration of the 
anniversary of the capture of the Bastile 
(see French Revolution) ; and though Priest- 
ley had nothing to do with the tumult, the mob 
got so excited that it went to his house, broke 
that open, destroyed all his scientific appar- 
atus, scattered his books for half a mile over 



116 



FAITH. 



the road, and tore his manuscripts in bits till 
they covered the floors several inches deep. 
Just think how many manuscripts he must 
have had! Then the mob tried to set fire 
to the house. Priestley himself was playing 
backgammon as the mob began to form, and 
when his friends came and told him he would 
not believe them ; but at last they persuaded 
him to flee, and in the end he went to 
London. 

His Calmness. — At first he planned to 
come back and preach on the next Sunday 
from the text, "Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do." But it was 
not safe for him to return. He was more 
sorry to lose his manuscript papers than 
anything else, but rejoiced that there was 
nothing in them which could injure any one. 
His faith was so strong that he wrote a 
friend he was sure "a wise and good Provi- 
dence superintends and directs the whole." 
People slowly began to be ashamed of what 
had been done to the " first philosopher in 
Europe," though some of the clergy " secretly 
triumphed in these barbarities." 

Going to America. — Priestley was still 
so exposed to continual insult that many 
persons were afraid to live near him lest 
another mob should attack him. He was 
compelled to find business for his sons in 
America, and finally decided to go there 
himself. When it came time for him to 
sail, more and more people realized how 
abominable had been the treatment he had 
received, and letters of esteem and regret 
were sent him. Some of the Cambridge 
University men gave him a handsome silver 
inkstand, inscribed with their "regret that 
this expression of their esteem should be 
occasioned by the ingratitude of their coun- 
try." Such words show how he was honored 
by those who had courage to think for 
themselves. 

When on the voyage he preached, studied, 
and wrote. On reaching New York he 
found friends, receptions, and honors await- 
ing him. He had the same welcome in 



Philadelphia, but preferred to live with his 
sons in Northumberland. From there he 
wrote, " Philadelphia is unpleasant, un- 
healthy, and intolerably expensive ; but 
when I get my books and instruments, I 
hope to do as much as I have ever done." 

His Wife. — Mrs. Priestley had as strong 
a faith as her husband, and was so famous a 
housekeeper that he never went to market 
but once, and then was so unsuccessful that 
he was never asked to go again. She said 
of herself, that she knew how to " swim to 
the top of affliction, so that I am ready to 
pop out to the first friendly hand that offers 
assistance." Yet after her death and that of 
one of his sons, Priestley wrote that never 
before had he so strongly felt " the happy 
effects of religion." 

His Death. — He had a church in the 
little quiet town of Northumberland, but 
twice gave courses of lectures in Philadel- 
phia, and also preached there to crowded 
houses. His very last act, after bidding his 
grandchildren good-by and telling one of 
them to remember the hymn she had learned 
("Birds in their little nests agree"), was 
the dictation of certain alterations in one 
of his manuscripts. Then saying, "I have 
now done," he gently died, 1804. 

Faith. — His sure faith was beautiful, and 
carried him triumphantly over hard work 
and cruel days. He was never afraid to 
say what he believed, and was opposed, to 
use his own words, "to all civil establish- 
ments of religion." We should reverence 
him deeply, because he believed in God, 
reason, and truth; because his discoveries 
in science, besides benefiting the whole world 
by disclosing more of the laws of Nature, 
only strengthened his faith in God as the 
great law-maker and Father. 

Heaven. — Priestley's thoughts of the 
next world were very noble and comforting. 
In the preface to his last publication he 
wrote, "I have no idea of any greater 
happiness than such society as I have had 
and such employments and pursuits as I 



FAITH. 



117 



have been occupied in here. There (in 
heaven) I shall hope to resume my inves- 
tigation of the great system of which I am 
a part with more advantage than I can at 
present." Though these sentences sound 
like old-fashioned English, they are glorious 
as coming from a man of science and of 
religious faith. 

Relics. — In the Unitarian Church at 
Philadelphia there is a tablet erected to 
his memory. His great-great-grandchildren 
still look after the little church in Northum- 
berland, and they carefully treasure the 
glass retorts and other apparatus he used, 
and a small, rough engraving showing the 
sacking of his house in Birmingham and the 
books and chairs flying out of the window. 
It is curious to contrast this picture with 
that of the monument now placed in honor 
of him in the same city. 

Industry. — It is said that Priestley 
learned because he was attentive and indus- 
trious rather than because of original bright- 
ness. Be that as it may, as proof of his 
industry he left writings on religious and 

QUES 

Is it wrong to steal pins ? Why is it a good 
plan to study in vacation ? Who was Dr. 
Franklin ? What is oxygen ? How and why 
is arterial blood different from venous blood ? 
What is a pneumatic trougli ? Is the reason we 
use about scientific matter the same kind of 
reason we use about religion ? What was the 
Bastile? What did the English mob do? 
How did Priestley behave? Why did he go 
to America ? Where is Northumberland ? 
What kind of a wife had he ? What did he 

TO TE. 

Make the children feel that much of the value 
of Priestley's life lies in the emphasis it 
places upon faith and upon the relationship 
that exists between science and religion, 
and that his life included devotion to both. 

Show how religious bigotry was the cause of 
his misfortune, yet how honors came to 
him. 

Speak of the atheistic thought that prevailed 



general subjects which, when collected, made 
twenty-four large octavo volumes, while his 
other works nearly equalled them. His 
publications alone were over one hundred 
and thirty. One of his books on the cor- 
ruptions of Christianity was publicly burned 
in Dort by the common hangman, to express 
the universal horror of it. Like all great 
men, he could not afford to be lazy ; like all 
conscientious men, he never thought that he 
must work to become famous, but only be- 
cause there was work to do and he must do 
his part. He had faith in courage and 
persistence, and was always busy. In this 
way he is a lesson for us all, whether we are 
boys or girls, old or young. 

He carried the same freedom from preju- 
dice into his scientific work; that 's why he 
succeeded. And he was never prejudiced 
in favor of himself, like some children, who 
fancy that they know all that there is to 
know about the Bible, their studies, and 
themselves. Priestley had convictions, be- 
liefs, not prejudices. Which do most chil- 
dren have? 

IONS. 

hope to do in the next world ? Why should 
Unitarians honor him ? What is erected to 
him in Philadelphia? in Birmingham? How 
did science help him to believe in God ? Why 
should the atheists and the High-Church party 
have been opposed to him? Would they be 
now ? Have you ever studied chemistry or 
worked in a school laboratory ? How did the 
knowledge you gained make you feel about 
religion? Why should you hope to know 
more in another life ? 

CHERS. 

in parts of Europe in his lifetime, and his 
bravery in opposing it. 

Read a little volume by Henry Ware, Jr., pub- 
lished in 1834, entitled " Priestley's Views, 
with a Memoir." Then read any account 
of him in a good encyclopaedia. 

Show how the essential lines of Priestley's 
faith are as true for us to-day as they were 
for him. 





GOLDEN TEXT. 




Noble Life : 


Topic : 


LONGFELLOW. 


Serve God acceptably, with reverence and 
godly fear. — Heijkevvs xii. 28. 


REVERENCE. 







What we ought to understand by rev- 
erence and what we need to teach about it 
is well expressed in our Golden Text : rev- 
erence is a condition of thought and feeling 
which does not paralyze action, but kindles 
it ; does not deaden sensibility, but quickens 
it ; is not an end in worship, but a means of 
devotion. For the text says, serve God ac- 
ceptably, using reverence as an aid. All 
early definitions of reverence have at root 
some reference to fear, or awe, which is the 
beginning of wisdom, not the end. Our text 
names the kind of awe we need, — "godly 
fear," which is quite different from human 
fear or slavish terror. 

The Poet. — We have selected Henry 
Wadsworth Longfellow for our example, the 
best known of our American poets. The 
great poet, be he Milton, Dante, Shake- 
speare, or next in rank, Tennyson, Brown- 
ing, or Wordsworth, is always reverential. 
His stanzas are crowned with a sacred seri- 
ousness. He gives to life a "grand, true, 
harmonic interpretation." Longfellow was 
born on the 27th of February, 1807, at Port- 
land, Maine. His boyhood disclosed the 
same gentle, amiable spirit which filled his 
after-life with sunshine and goodness. 

College. — At the age of fourteen he 
entered Bowdoin College. Among his class- 
mates were Hawthorne and J. S. C. Abbott. 
While here he began writing poetry, and 
was chosen to give the class poem at gradu- 
ation. At this time he tried tutoring; then 
entered his father's law office and had some 
idea of becoming a lawyer. He was trying 
his wings, and knew not in which direction 
to fly. 

Professorship. — In this crisis he was 
invited to fill the professorship of modern 
languages in Bowdoin College. After spend- 
ing three years and a half in Europe, quali- 
fying himself, he took up his appointed work, 



and served his alma mater six years with 
great credit. 

Harvard College. — In 1835 Longfellow 
was made successor to George Ticknor as 
professor of belle-lettres and modern lan- 
guages at Harvard. Again he visited Europe 
•to study, and on his return began that illus- 
trious career of instruction and authorship 
which has been the source of so much hon- 
orable pride on the part of his countrymen. 
Longfellow selected a historic home in Cam- 
bridge ; it was the house occupied by Wash- 
ington when he took command of the United 
States Army in 1776, — a spacious square 
structure, full of welcoming windows, and 
situated in the midst of old elms. 

Here he lived till his death ; and now the 
stretch of land from the, estate to the river 
Charles has been bought and adorned as 
a memorial. 

Hospitality and Grace. — It was as a 
man, so charming in every gracious trait, 
that Longfellow impressed all. Emerson, 
having lost his memory somewhat, looked 
on the poet's face at Longfellow's funeral 
and said : " That gentleman was a sweet, 
beautiful soul, but I have entirely forgotten 
his name." So deep was the impression made 
by our subject's beauty of character, that it 
outlived name and literary fame. He always 
responded to callers, and they came by the 
hundreds; he never refused his autograph; 
children loved him ; his charities were mani- 
fold ; young authors received his encourage- 
ment; modest as to his own writings, he 
strove to praise the good in others. Every 
one who met him perceived the source of 
all this rare grace and fascinating nobility 
of soul, — it was a sense of the glory and 
divineness of all life ; his soul stood in the 
reverential attitude toward existence, and 
a marvellous light shone through him and 
his poetry : — 



REVERENCE. 



119 



"Life is real ! Life is earnest! " 

"Know how sublime a thing it is 
To suffer and be strong." 

" God sent his singers upon earth 
With songs of sadness and of mirth, 
That they might touch the hearts of men, 
And bring them back to heaven again." 

"The spirit- world around this world of sense 
Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere 
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapors 
dense 

A vital breath of more ethereal air." 

"Oft in sadness and in illness 

I have watched thy current glide 
Till the beauty of its stillness 
Overflowed me like a tide." 

The foregoing extracts are only a few 
leaves from the healing tree of Longfellow's 
hopeful Christian belief. 

God in His World. — In the time of 
great grief what poem is oftener read than 
" Resignation " ? As an exhortation to see 
how sacred common existence is, what ex- 
cels the exquisite stanzas of " The Build- 
ers " ? If we wish to have our courage 
revived amid life's vanishings and losses, 
what serves better than "Palingenesis"? 
Longfellow saw God in his world, and be- 
cause he always saw him events and duties 
became dignified and important. Sorrows 
fell upon him, but he did not swerve. 
His first wife died in 1835 ; he refers to her 
in "Footsteps of Angels" as "the Being 
Beauteous." His second wife died a tragic 
death, — her dress catching fire, she per- 
ished in her own home. 

His Works. — The writings of Long- 
fellow are household possessions, fully as 
much in England as in America, and we 
need not enumerate them. One does not go 
to them for originality, but for calm, spiritual, 
purifying messages; they are full of good- 
will, aspiration, trust, and Christ-like lofti- 
ness. Indeed, Longfellow loved to make 
clear his discipleship to him whose ministry 



was love, whose flock was all humanity, 
whose kingdom was peace and righteousness. 

Conclusion. — Lecturing and writing 
filled the busy years. The poet's wife left 
five children, who made the home bright for 
him, — two sons and three daughters, — 

"Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, 
And Edith with golden hair." 

Three intimate friends he had, — Agassiz, 
Felton, and Sumner. Agassiz died, then 
Sumner ; and Longfellow wrote, — 

" Thou hast but taken thy lamp and gone to bed; 
I stay a little longer, as one stays 
To cover up the embers that still burn." 

Down to the last his pen was active. On 
the 24th of March, 1882, his soul ascended, 
and was clothed upon with still more beauty 
and power. Degrees and honors had been 
freely bestowed on him, but the highest 
tributes came from the people, on both sides 
of the water, in whose homes his books 
were read, in whose hearts dwelt a deep 
gratitude. 

Applications. — Three names we should 
group together to illustrate genuine rever- 
ence, the kind of reverence this lesson seeks 
to enforce, — Professor Agassiz, Phillips 
Brooks, and Longfellow ; scientist, preacher, 
poet. In all three what is most conspicu- 
ous? Character! On what does their type 
of character turn? On the central fact of 
the recognition of the value and glory of 
human nature, — in other words, a governing 
spirit of reverence. 

Goethe. — This thinker claimed that three 
kinds of reverence should be taught to youth, 
— for superiors, for equals, for inferiors ; 
above, around, beneath. This was an ad- 
vance over the old ideas ; but when Goethe 
made Christianity identical with the last, 
namely, regard for our inferiors, he missed 
the mark. In a republic (Church or State) 
reverence is not up and down ; it is not 
measured by class distinctions, — it is a spirit, 
to be related in sympathetic ways with 



120 



REVERENCE. 



God. 

False Ideas. — We must seek to drive 
out the old notions that the greatest rev- 
erence consists in bowing down or in sub- 
mitting or in outward forms. There is 
more reverence toward God in an earnest 
search for his truth than in the guarding of 
useless forms, however old. If we truly 
revere, that is respect, the Bible, we do not 
prove it by blindly accepting traditions about 
it, but by examining its contents and appre- 
ciating its truths. The boldest use of a 
truth is the most reverential, as one has 
said, because it shows that we thoroughly 
believe in that truth. 

Special Lessons. — Reverence is in one 
aspect regard , in another, adoration ; in 
another, loyalty; in another, wholesome or 
godly fear ; in another, appreciation ; in 
another, an earnest view of life. 

I. It can be cultivated, and needs to be 
in our times. There is too much mere 
" smartness " abroad. In society and the 
world we find a flippant, cynical tone; no 
doubt much of this is reaction from old-time 
gloom and severity. But without a reason- 



able reverence we cannot have good man- 
ners, loyal citizens, genuine Christians, and 
beautiful character. 

II. Reverence is developed by having 
ideals ; by looking for the good in others j 
by diminishing fault-finding ; by associating 
with high-minded acquaintances ; by reading 
worthy literature; by using language un- 
stained by vulgarity; by striving to enter 
more and more into the spirit of him whose 
life and teachings enforce human greatness 
and divine nearness. 

III. Reverence, then, is not fear; but 
wonder, solemnity, and veneration, on the 
one hand, and consecration, worship and 
service, on the other hand. " It is to cherish 
a habit of looking upward, and seeing what 
is noble and good in all things." Its bless- 
ings are many. By it we can win a mas- 
terly judgment to determine the fitness of 
behavior and habits; it will keep us from 
regrettable words and deeds; it will make 
us respectful to old age and appreciative 
of the past. True reverence is joy and 
strength. Her paths lead to worship, and 
her rewards are a part of eternal life. 



QUESTIONS. 



Where was Longfellow born ? When and 
where did he finish his life-work? Can you 
repeat any passage from his poems ? If you 
have read many of his writings, which do 
you like the best ? Why ? How is it that 
Longfellow is taken to illustrate reverence ? 
What is meant by " godly fear " 1 Is rever- 
ence necessarily fear ? What is it, then ? 



Does reverence mean an outward act of bow- 
ing, or some such token? What does the 
patriot mean when he says, " I revere the 
founders of our country " ? What are some 
of the ways by which we can cultivate rever- 
ence ? Do you think that there is enough 
reverence among young people ? 



TO TEACHERS. 



See " Life of Longfellow " by his brother. 
Consult Phillips Brooks's sermon, " The Seri- 
ousness of Life," vol. V. of Sermons. 



Read some of Longfellow's shorter poems to 
the class. 



INDEX 



Abbott, J. S. C, 118. 
Absent-mindedness, 21, 112, 113. 
Abstinence, 73-75, 93. 
Accidents, 20, 21. 
Action, honesty in, 8, 9. 
Adams, John, 109-111. 
Adoration, 120. 
Affectation, 36. 
Affection, 46-48. 

Africa : Livingstone, 61-63 ; Gordon, 86, 87 ; 
Humboldt, 79-81. 

Agassiz: kindness, 46; relations to Longfel- 
low, 119. 

Air-pump, 117. 

A Kempis, 58, 60. 

Alcott, Bronson, 26, 44. 

Alexander the Sixth, 38, 39. 

Alhambra, 82. 

Alice, Princess, 4. 

Alphabet, 58. 

Ambition : Washington, 2 ; Havelock, 76-78 ; 
Humboldt, 80. 

America : Mary Carpenter, 4 ; Priestley, 1 16, 1 17. 

American Revolution : Parker's service, 94-96 ; 
patriots, 109-111. 

Americans : haste, 2, 3 ; patience and prompt- 
ness, 21 ; frankness, 24. 

Anarchism, 64. 

Animals, kindness to, 31-33, 46-48, 73. 
Anthony, Saint, 47. 

Anti-slavery: society, 26, 27; work, 34-36; 

Sumner, 56, 57. 
Apollo, illustration, 90. 
Appreciation, akin to reverence, 120. 
Apprenticeship, 13. 
Archaeology, 83. 
Architecture, 8. 
Arctic Explorations, 90-93. 
Armstrong, General, 6. 
Army Life, General Gordon, 85-87. 
Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 45. 
Arnold, Thomas : aim, 53 ; relation to Stanley, 

67, 69 ; breadth, 89. 
Artlessness, 24. 

Art : observation, 11, 12 ; patience, 15 ; beauty, 
83- 

Asceticism: not self-control, 2; Luther's, 24. 

Aspiration, 119. 

Astronomy, 11. 

Atheism, 117. 

Athletics, 83. 

Attention, 6. 

Audubon, 10-12. 

Augustine, Saint, 61. 

Aurelius, 54. 

Australia, 5. 



Bacon, Lord, 103. 
Bartol, Cyrus A., 45. 
Bastile, 114, 117. 
Bayard, Chevalier, 40-42. 
Beauty, 82-84. 
Beecher, Lyman, 84. 
Beethoven, 112-114. 
Bernard, Saint, 84. 
Berries, 5, 6. 

Bible : Luther's view, 22, 24 ; free, 72 ; reading, 

58 ; respect for, 120. 
Bigotry, 117-119. 
Biology, 15. 

Birds, 10, 12, 83, 107. See Animals, 

Black Beauty, 48. 

Black Hawk, 7. 

Blood, nature of, 115, 117. 

Boasting, 8. 

Boldness, 3. 

Boniface, Saint, 61. 

Bonpland, Aime, 80, 81. 

Boone, Daniel, 7. 

Borrowing, 8. 

Boston Massacre, no, in. 
Botany, 83. 

Bowdoin College, 118. 

Boys, 11, 13. 

Bread and Water, 36. 

Bribery, in. 

Bristol Reformatory, 4. 

Broad Church, 68, 69. 

Brooks, Phillips, 88, 119, 120. 

Brooks, Preston, 56, 57. 

Brougham, Lord, 28. 

Browning, Robert, 118. 

Brown, John, 56. 

Brown, Kate L. : on honesty, 7-9; on sym- 
pathy, 34-36. 
Brunswick, Duke of, 24. 
Brusqueness, 24. 
Brute Force, 93. 
Bunsen, 88-90. 
Bunyan, 52-54, 88. 
Burdett, Robert, 66. 
Burning-glass, 6. 
Burns, 72. 

Business Habits, 20, 21. 
California, 17. 

Calvin: grave, 71 ; religion, 84, 115. 
Cambridge, 108. See Harvard College. 
Campbell, Thomas, 28. 
Candle of Service, 33. 
Candor, 24. See Frankness. 
Carlyle, Thomas: on Stanley, 68; on Knox, 
70-72, on Father Mathew, 74. 



122 



INDEX. 



Carpenter, Mary, 4-6. 

Carruth, W. H., essay, 22-24. 

Catacombs, 6. 

Catechisms, 115. 

Caution, 24. 

Cells, in growth, 13. 

Chance, 17. 

Channing, Elizabeth P., essay, 100-102. 
Channing, William Ellery: example, 49-51; 

relation to Methodism, 60; Miss Carpenter, 

100. 

Character: formation, 13-15; economy in, 18; 

Channing's word, 50, 51; Smiles on, 53; 

the great thing, 119. 
Charity, 56. 

Charles the Fifth, 23, 24. 
Charles the Seventh, 97-99. 
Cheerfulness, 28-30. 
Chemistry, 114, 117. 
Chesterfield, Lord, 13, 14. 
Children, 20. See Boys. 
China, 85-87. 
Chisholm, Mrs., 4-6. 
Chivalry, 50. 

Christianity: early, 18; life-religion, 21; re- 
forms, 27 ; duty, 33 ; courtesy, 45 ; love, 48 ; 
average, 72; foundations, 39; courage, 93; 
effects, 96; daily life, 108: patriotism, 111 ; 
sentiment, 114; corruptions, 117. 

Christian Virtues, 42. 

Cities, distrusted, 107. 

Civil Liberty, 38, 39. 

Civil War: General Armstrong, 6; Lincoln, 

7-9 ; Sheridan and Jackson, 19 ; Sumner, 57. 
Clarke, James Freeman : on good-will, 3 ; at 

school, 55; on Sumner, 56; on beauty, 84; 

on courage, 93 ; on nature, 108. 
Color, 107, 108, 114. 
Columbus, 68, 69. 
Concentration, 4-6, 21. 
Concord Town, 44, 106-108. 
Conscience : heeded, 2, 3 ; incarnate, 26, 27 ; 

text, 34 ; cleared, 66 ; in ambition, 78 ; in 

courage, 93. 
Conscientiousness, 55-57. 
Consecration, 51, 120. 
Conventionality, 9, 13, 14, 20. 
Conversion, 58-60. 
Conviction, 24. 

Cooke, G. W.: on missions, 61-63; humility, 
88-90. 

Courage: prolific, 13; Luther's, 22, 24; com- 
mon, 40-42 ; in progress, 69 ; enthusiasm, 85 ; 
essay, 91-93 ; Miss Dix's, 104, 105. 

Courtesy, 43-45. 

Cramming, 81. 

Cynicism, 120. 

Dante: exile, 53; reverence, 118. 
Darwin: example, 13-15; ill-health, 104. 
D'Aulon, Jean, 97-99. 
Dawdling, 21. 
Deafness, 11 2-1 14. 
Deans, Jeanie, 32. 



Death, mystery of, 100, 101. 

Declaration of Independence, 1 10, III. 

Deeds, grateful, 95, 96. 

Dependence, 71, 72. 

Deserter, story of a, 87. 

Diamond-drill, 6. 

Dictionary, a human, 81. 

Dignity of Man, 50, 60. 

Discretion, 24. 

Dissenters, 54, 64, 115. 

Dix, Dorothea, 47, 103-105. 

Dogs, 31-33, 46. See Animals. 

Dole, C. F., essay, 73-75. 

Dress, 36. 

Drifting, 5, 6. 

Drunkenness, 75. 

Duplicity, 8. 

Duty, 18, 21, 31-33. 

Edinburgh Review, 28. 
Education, patriotic, III. 
Egotism, 88. 

Egypt > Gordon, 85-87 ; Bunsen, 89 ; statue, 91. 

Elector of Saxony, 24. 

Electricity, 5, 115. 

Eliot, John, 61. 

Eliot, S. A., essay, 82-84. 

Ellis, George E., 66. 

Emergencies, 20, 21. 

Emerson: relation to Thoreau, 11, 106-108; 

good temper, 30 ; courtesy, 43-45 ; on beauty, 

84; loss of memory, 118. 
Emotion, 114. 
Engineering, II. 
Engineers, 20, 21. 

English Church: Smith, 28-30; Wesley, 59, 

68; Priestley, 11 5-1 17, 
Enthusiasm, 3, 69, 85-87. 
European Morals, Lecky's History of, 96. 
Exaggeration, 8, 36. 
Excellence, ambition for, 78. 
Excuses, 5, 21. 
Expediency, 57. 

Fagging System, 28, 30. 
Failure, no crime, 17. 
Fair Play, 27. 
Faithfulness, 100-102. 

Faith: in each other, 8, 9; inspiring perse- 
verance, 17, 18; childlike, 36; a door, 60; 
reformatory, 69; essay, 115-117. 

Fame, 78, 112, 113. 

Family Affection, 47, 48, 66. 

Faraday, 3. 

Fashion, 18, 108. 

Fault-finding, 120. 

Fauntleroy, Little Lord, 48. 

Faust, 13. See Goethe. 

Fawcett, 18. 

Fear : juvenile, 93; akin to reverence, 118, 120. 
Federal Street Church, 49-51- 
Feeble-mindedness, 6. 
Felton, President, 119. 
Fires and Firemen, 20, 21. 



INDEX. 



123 



Fish, W. H., Jr., essay, 94-96. 

Fiske's Cosmic Philosophy, 96. 

Flippancy, 120. 

Florence, 37-39. 

Flowers, 83, 84. See Nature. 

Football, 5. 

Foster, George, 79. 

Fox, George, 64. 

France: Revolution, 60, 1 16; German War, 82, 
83 ; Joan of Arc, 97-99 ; relations to Amer- 
ica, no, III. 

Francis of Assisi, 46-48, 90. 

Francis the First, 40. 

Franklin, Benjamin: dress, 36; birthplace, 43; 

in France, no; in London, 115, 117. 
Franklin, Sir John, 93. 
Frankness, 9, 22-24. 

Freedom in Religion, 39, 65, 66, 115-117. 
Friendliness, 51. 
Friendship, 20, 21. 
Fry, Elizabeth, 47. 
Fugitive Slave Law, 96. 

Galileo, 68. 
Galley-slaves, 72. 
Gambling, 8. 

Gannett, Abbie M., essay, 13-15. 
Garfield, President, 81. 
Garrison, 25-27, 34. 
Gems, 46. 
Generosity, 41, 42. 

Genius: defined, 13; wrecked, 18; methodical, 
60. 

Geography, 92. 
Geology, n, 92. 
Georgia, 58. 

Germany: Reformation, 22-24; idol, 24; 

French War, 82, 83. 
Getting, 5. 

Gilman, Mrs. Bradley, essay, 46-48. 
Glover, Colonel, I. 

God: inspiring faith, 17, 18; love to, 46-48; 

beauty, 84; shining in the heart, 85, 87; 

gratitude to, 95, 96; Priestley's belief, 115; 

revered, 118-120; in the world, 119. 
Godly Fear, 120. 

Goethe: dizziness, 2; gratitude, 13; death, 32; 

on Humboldt, 80; reverence, 119. 
Gold, 46. 
Golden Rule, 45. 
Good-nature, 3. 
Goodness for Something, 108. 
Good Samaritan, 29. 
Good-will, 2, 3. 
Gordon, General, 85-87, 92. 
Grace, Longfellow's, 1 18, 1 19. 
Grant, General, 33. 
Gratitude, 94-96. 

Greek: study, 16; explorations, 17 
Gulbranson, Anna, essay, 31-35. 

Habits, 18, 21, 59, 60. 

Hagar, Katherine, essay, 10-12. 

Hampton Institute, 6. 



Happiness, from observation, 11. 

Harvard College, 106, 109, u8. 

Havelock, 76-78. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 44, 119. 

Heaven, 116, 117. 

Heber, Bishop, 61. 

Hedge, F. H., 82. 

Heep, Uriah, 88. 

Helpfulness, 50, 78. 

Henry the Fourth, 19, 21. 

Herbert, George, 89, 90. 

Hermits, 2, 106, 107. See Asceticism. 

Heroism, 92, 93. 

Herschel, 53. 

High Church, 68, 69, 1 15, 117. 

Hoar, Judge, 44. 

Holiness, 60. 

Holmes, 43-45. 

Homer, 16, 17. 

Honesty, 7-9. 

Honor, 13, 40-42, 78, 97. 

Hope, 18. 

Horses, 68. See Animals. 

Horton, P2. A. : on self-control, 1-3 ; on perse- 
verance, 16-18; on cheerfulness, 28-30; on 
self-forgetfulness, 37-39; on courtesy, 43-45; 
on self-respect, 52-54; on independence, 
70-72 ; on love of knowledge, 79-81 ; on 
courage, 91-93, on love of nature, 106-108; 
on sentiment, 11 2-1 14; on reverence, 118- 
120. 

Hospitality, 118. 
Howard, John, 47, 48. 
Hughes, Thomas, 67-69. 
Humanity, 41, 42. 
Humboldt, 79-81. 
Humility, 88-90. 
Huss, 23. 

Ice, accident on, 21. 
Ideals, 120. 

Impatience, 14, 15. N 
Impossible, the word, 104. 
Improvement, 78. 
Indecision, 20. 
Independence, 70-72. 

Indians: relics, 4; education, 6; observation, 
11; missions, 58, 61; Pennsylvania, 65, 66; 
acuteness, 107. 

India: widows, 4, 6; English rule. 76-78. 

Indulgences, 22. 

Industry, Priestley's, 117. 

Inner Light, 64-66. 

Insanity, 103, 104. 

Insincerity, 9. 

Intelligence, in enthusiasm, 85. 
Intemperance, in. See Temperance. 
Inventions, 60. 
Ireland, 73-75. 

Jackson, Andrew, 93. 
Jackson, Stonewall, 19, 21. 
James the First, 71. 
Jaynes, J C, essay, 76-78. 



124 



INDEX. 



Jefferson, no, in. 
esus : self-control, 3; honesty, 9; love of 
nature, 12, 108; patience, 13, 15; persever- 
ance and example, 18; sunshine, 30; duty, 
33; sincerity and simplicity, 36; self-forget- 
i ulness, 39 ; courtesy, 45 ; influence on Saint 
Francis, 46-48; missionary spirit, 61-63; 
open-mindedness, 69 ; independence, 72 ; 
ambition, 78; love of knowledge, 81; of 
beauty, 84; two sides, 88, 89; courage, 93; 
deserving gratitude, 95, 96; sentiment, 114. 
Joan of Arc, 97-99, 105. 
Judson, Adoniram, 61. 
Julius, Pope, 41. 
Justice, 25-28. 

Kane, Dr. E. K., 91-93. 
Keats, 84. 
Kindergartens, 59. 
Kindness, in promptness, 20. 
Kingdom of God, HI. 
Kingsley, Charles, 30. 
King, the happy, 65. 
Knowing, 5. 

Knowledge, love of, 79-81. 
Knox, 70-72. 

Labor Troubles, 21. 
Lavater, 8. 
Lawlessness, 2, 3. 

Law: orderly, 60; in religion, 109, III. 
Laziness, 60. 
Lear, Tobias, 1. 
Lent, 36. 

Life, Longfellow on, 119. 
Light : religion of, 30 ; text, 67. 
Liberator, The, 26, 27. 

Lincoln: example, 7-9; honor, 42; self-re- 
spect, 54 ; cabinet, 57 ; love of knowledge, 
81 ; humility, 89. 

Livingstone, David, 61-63. 

Loe, Robert, 64. 

Loftiness, 119. 

Longfellow, 13, 1 18-120. 

Lorenzo the Magnificent, 37-39. 

Losses, through tardiness, 2. 

Lottery, 8. 

Louis the Fourteenth, 9. 

Low Church, 68, 69. 

Lowell, James Russell, 17, 18, 83, 84. 

Loyalty, 40-42, 120. 

Lucknow, 76-78. 

Luther: example, 22-24 ; duty, 33; conscience, 
Lying, 9. 

Manners, 45. See Courtesy. 
Martyn the Missionary, 61. 
Mathew, Father, 73-75. 
May, Samuel J., 26. 
Meekness, 88-90. 
Merchants, 33. 
Mercy. 103-105. 
Metcalf, Joel A , essay, 64-66. 



Meteorology, 92. 
Methodism, 58-60. 
Mexico, 91. 
Microscope, 12-15. 
Miller, Hugh, 81. 

Milton: on patience, 14; blindness, 113, rev- 
erence, 118. 
Mines, 79. 

Missionary Spirit, 61-63. 
Modern Life, 107, 108. 
Moffat, Dr., 61, 62. 
Mohammedanism, 21, 66. 
Moral Courage, 24. 
Morality, needing sentiment, 114. 
Moral Power, 63, 83, 84. 
Moravians, 59-61. 
Motives, honest, 8, 9. 

Mott, Frederick B. : on open-mindedness, 67-69 ; 

on enthusiasm, 85-87. 
Mozart, 112. 

Music : patience, 15 ; perseverance, 18 ; beauty, 

83,84; Beethoven, 112-114. 
Mustard Seed, 17. 

Napoleon : overthrow, 2; promptness, 19, 21 ; 

courtesy, 44, 45 ; Havelock's hero, 76 ; exile, 

77 ; enterprise, 104. 
Natural History: Audubon, 10-12; Darwin, 14, 

15- 

Nature: beauty, 83, 84; love of, 106-108; 

Adams's appreciation, 109. 
Negro Education, 6. 
Nelson, Lord, 20, 33, 103. 
Nero, 47. 

Newman Agitation, 69. 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 17. 
Niebuhr, 89. 
Night, Arctic, 92. 

Northumberland, Pennsylvania, 116, 117. 
Notoriety, 8. 

Obedience: filial, 36; essay, 64-66; Dr. 

Kane's, 93. 
Observation: essay, 10-12; trained, 83. 
Open-mindedness, 67-69. 
Orangemen, 74, 75. 
Oratory, persuasive, 18. 
Order, 58-60. 
Otis, James, no. 
Oxygen, 115, 117. 

Painstaking, 13, 15. 

Papacy, 23. See Roman Catholicism, 

Parables, 84. 

Parents, 94, 96, 100. 

Paris, Siege, 83. 

Parker, Theodore: work, 34; writings, 51 ; 

gratitude, 94-96; prayer, 108; on Adams, ill. 
Passivity, 14. 
Past, debt to the, 94-96. 

Patience: essay, 13-15; Channing's, 50; wait- 
ing, 85. 

Patriotism: Regnault's, 82-84; essay, 109-111: 
sentiment, 114; reverence, 120. 



INDEX. 



125 



Paul: self-control, 2, 3; concentration, 6; per- 
sistence, 17, 18; courage, 24, 93; ministry, 
61; progress, 68, 69; temperance, 73, 75; 
humility, 88-90. 

Peach Story, 94. 

Peasant War, 23, 24. 

Pebbles, 12. 

Pencil-making, 106. 

Penn, William, 64-66. 

Pepin, King, 49. 

Perfection, sought, 78. 

Persecution, religious, 22-24, 38, 39, 115-117. 
Perseverance : powerful, 13 ; essay, 16-18 ; 

enthusiastic, 85. 
Persuasiveness, 104, 105. 
Philadelphia, no, 116, 117. 
Philanthropy, 12. 

Phillips, Wendell: work, 26, 34; school, 55. 
Physicians, n. 
Picking, 11. 
Pilots, 33. 

Pilgrim's Progress, 52-54. 
Pinel, Philippe, 105. 
Planets, 12. 
Plant-life, 13-15. 
Playfair, John, 28. 
Playthings, 6. 
Pneumatic Trough, 117. 
Poetry, 84. 
Policy, 8. 
Politics, 59. 

Practice, in self-control, 2. 
Praise, love of, 78. 

Prayer : Wesley's, 58 ; Parker's, 95, 96. 

Prejudice, 67, 69, 117. 

Prescott the Historian, 18. 

Present Life, 107. 

Press-gang, no. 

Priestley, 115-117. 

Princey, anecdote, n. 

Principles, in habit, 60. 

Printing, Garrison's, 25-27. 

Prize-fighting, 3, 93. 

Probity, 8. 

Procrastination, 21. 

Prodigal Son, 54. 

Progress, 18, 93. 

Promptness, 19-21. 

Protestants: obedience, 66; Father Mathew, 
74- 

Proverbs, on perseverance, 18. 
Prudence, 85. See Caution. 
Psalmist, on nature, 107, 108. 
Public Opinion, 68, 69. 
Punctuality, 20, 21. 

Puritans : duty, 33 ; English, 54 ; qualities, 55, 
72. 

Purity, 97-99. 
Puseyism, 69. 

Quakers: Penn, 64-66; Father Mathew, 73, 
75- 

Quickness, 5, 6. 
Quincy, Josiah, no. 



Radicalism, 51. 
Ragged Schools, 4. 
Railroad, illustrations, 8, 20. 
Ramabai, Pundita, 6. 
Rashness, 23. 
Rawlinson's History, 17. 
Reading, best way, 36. 

Reason: in religion, 39, 50, 51, 108; in science 
117. 

Reformers, 12, 27. 
Regnault, 82-84. 

Religion: simplicity, 36; beauty, 84 j Thoreau's, 

108; sentiment, 114. 
Repentance, 60. 
Reverence, 81, 1 18-120. 
Revivals, 59. 

Reynolds, Grindall, essay, 40-42. 
Rice, Governor, 43, 44. 
Robertson, F. W., 89. 
Robinson Crusoe, 20. 
Robinson, John, 68. 

Roman Catholicism: Luther, 22-24; obedi- 
ence, 66 ; Scotland, 70-72 ; temperance, 
73-75 ; Prussia, 89 ; Joan of Arc, 97-99. 

Rowing, 3. 

Ruskin, 84. 

Russia, 16, 17, 86. 

Sailors, 20, 21. 
Salvation Army, 60, 66. 
Satire, 28. 

Savonarola, 23, 37-39. 

Schliemann, 16-18. 

Schoolboys, 33. See Boys. 

Schools: Mary Carpenter's, 4; order, 6,60. 

Science: religion, 12, 108, 115; beauty, 83. 

Scotland: Reformation, 70-72; temperance, 

74; Miss Dix, 104, 105. 
Scott : relation to Sydney Smith, 28 ; example, 

31-33 ; characters, 40, 41 ; annals, 47. 
Second Church, 43. 
Second Nature, n. 
Secretiveness of Beauty, 84. 
Self-assertion, 88. 
Self-control, 1-3, 13. 
Self-culture, 84. 
Self-denial, 7, 8. 
Self-examination, 2. 
Self-forgetfulness, 37-39. 
Self-help, 8. 
Self-made men, 5. 
Self-reliance, 53, 54, 88. 
Self-respect, 52-54, 88. 
Sentiment, 112-114. 
Sentimentalism, 108, 114. 
Service of God, 118, 120. 
Sewall, S. E., 26. 

Shakespeare : on sincerity, 8; on patience, 13; 

reverent, 118. 
Sheridan's Ride, 19, 21. 
Sickness: lessons, 13, 15; Wesley's 58, 60. 
Sidelights, on honesty, 8. 
Silas Marner, 48. 
Simplicity, 34-36. 



126 



INDEX. 



Sincerity : advisable, 8 ; of Jesus, 36 ; in cour- 
tesy, 45 ; in humility, 90. 
Slang, 36. 
Slave-trade, 62, 63. 
Slicer, T. R., essay, 97-99. 
Smartness, 8, 120. 
Smiles, 29, 30. 
Smith, Sydney, 28-30. 
Society, promptness, 20. 
Soldiers, 19-21. 
Solemnity, 120. 
Soudan, 86, 87. 
South America, 79-81. 
Speech, honesty in, 8, 9. 
Spiritual-mindedness, 49-51. 
Stammering, 20. 
Stamp Act, no, in. 

Stanley, Dean : self-respect, 53 ; example, 67- 

69 ; breadth, 89. 
Stanley, Henry M., 62, 63. 
Steam, 77. 

Stewart, Dugald, 28. 
Stoics, 33. 
Stone, flaws in, 8. 
Stuart, Mary, 70-72. 

Success : aided by patience, 13 ; by promptness, 

21 ; by orderliness, 60. 
Sumner, Charles, 55-57, 119. 
Sunday-keeping, 21. 
Sunday Schools, 102, 1 15. 
Sunlight, 95, 96. 
Sunshine, 29, 30, 55. 
Sweetmeats, 36. 
Sydney, Sir Philip, 53, 90. 
Sympathy, 31, 35. 

Teaching, a patriotic work, in. 
Tea-party, Boston, no. 
Tears, 29, 30. 
Telescope, 12. 
Temperance, 73-75. 
Temptation, 2. 

Tennyson: on simplicity, 34, 36; on know- 
ledge, 81 ; reverence, 118. 
Thackeray, 29, 30. 

Thoreau : habits, 1 1 ; grave, 44 ; love of ani- 
mals, 47 ; example, 106-108. 
Thoroughness, 33. 
Thoughtfulness, 21, 27. 
Thought, orderly, 59, 60. 
Ticknor, George, 118. 
Tiffany, Francis, essay, 103-105. 
Tom Brown at Rugby, 53, 67, 69. 
Towel-folding, 6. 
Trade, honest, 7-9. 
Trifles: useful, 21; noted, 50. 
Trojan Explorations, 17. 
Trust, 119. 

Truth : leads to honor, 13 ; love of, 36, 81. 
Tuke, William, 105. 



Turner the Painter, 84. 
Tyndall the Scientist, 3. 

Ulfila the Missionary, 61. 
Understanding, 78, 81. 

Unitarianism : cheerful, 30; ideas, 49-51; re- 
lation to Methodism, 60; Priestley's advo- 
cacy, 115-117- 

Unpopularity, 8. 

Upward-looking, 120. 

Veins, 21. 

Veneration, 120. See Reverence. 

Victoria, Queen, 4. 

Virtue and Vice, defined, 64. 

Virtues: prolific, 13; minor, 21; Christian, 

42 ; Quaker, 64-66. 
Volcano, 91. 
Vulgarity, 120. 

Wales, Princess of, 36. 
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 14, 15. 
Walton, Izaak, 89. 
War: art, 21; outgrown, in. 
Ware, Henry, Jr., 117. 
Ware, Mary L., 100-102. 

Washington : example, 1-3 ; honor, 42 ; hu- 
mility, 89; election, no; in Cambridge, 118. 
Waste, 6. 
W'ealth, 78. 
Wedgwood, Josiah, 15. 
Weeds, 5, 6. 
Weld, Theodore, 26. 

Wellington: self-control, 2, 3; promptness, 19, 
21. 

Wells, Kate Gannett: on concentration, 4-6; 
on promptness, 19-21 ; on spiritual-minded- 
ness, 49-51; on order, 58-60; on faith, 115- 
117. 

Wesley, Charles and John, 58-60, 115. 
Whitefield, 59, 60. 
White Lies, 8. 

Whitman, Mrs. Bernard, 1 09-1 n. 

Whittier: early writings, 26; example, 34-36; 

love of beauty, 84. 
Wilson, Lewis G., essay, 55-57. 
Winthrop, Robert C, 55. 
Wisdom, 79-81. 
Wit, Sydney Smith's, 28-30. 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 77. 
Wonder, 120. 
Work, secret of, 5. 
Words, grateful, 95, 96. 
Wordsworth, 71, 84, 118. 

Worship: and beauty, 84; Kane's, 93; and 

reverence, 120. 
Wrath, 1. 
Wycliff, 24. 

Young, George H., essay, 25-27. 



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